|
THE officials and technical experts of the Manila
International Airport Authority (MIAA) and Takenaka will meet on
April 30 to try to resolve the issue of who should shoulder the cost
of repairing the design and structural defects of the mothballed
Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal (NAIA) 3.
This is the first time that the
two parties will meet since the MIAA canceled the scheduled opening
of the NAIA 3 on March 31 following the discovery of defects in the
facility by its consultants.
Takenaka requested the meeting, a
source from MIAA said.
Takenaka was hired by the
Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco) to build
the NAIA 3. The government took over the facility in 2004 through an
expropriation case, which is still pending with a Pasay regional
trial court.
MIAA has insisted that Takenaka,
being the builder, should be made accountable for the defects that
the Japanese contractor has denied responsibility.
“The use of the facility at
this time, even in a limited scale, is not advisable as this will
expose user of the facility to life safety risks,” Ove Arup added.
TCGI Engineers the NAIA 3
structure has not complied with the original design intent developed
by its structural designer, Meinhardt. NAIA 3 can handle 13 million
passengers a year. The main terminal building is 182,000 sq. m. in
size. It also has a multistory car park.
TCGI said, “there are
violations of code requirements on life safety issues, specifically
on the capacity of the facility to prevent structural collapse and
loss of lives in the event of a major earthquake.”
Ove Arup said deficiencies in the
structure of NAIA 3 should be addressed first before the terminal
can be used.
--Jonathan M. Hicap
|
