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The government will not shell out
any money for the repair of the structural and design defects of the
Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 since it is under
warranty, according to airport chief Alfonso Cusi.
“Theoretically,
the NAIA 3 is under warranty,” Cusi said.
Severe
structural defects were found by the consultants of the Manila
International Airport Authority, which led to the cancellation of
the scheduled test run of NAIA 3 on March 31.
Cusi wrote
Takenaka Corp. of Japan to “rectify the defects in the structural
works” and urged the NAIA 3 contractor to “consider this as an
urgent matter in order to ensure the safety of million of passengers
and airport employees who will eventually use the terminal.”
Takenaka was
hired by the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco)
to build NAIA 3. MIAA has given Takenaka 15 days to answer the
letter.
Cusi said the
opening of the NAIA 3 would depend on when Takenaka will finish the
repair of the terminal facility.
TCGI Engineers
Inc. and Ove Arup & Partners HK Ltd. advised MIAA not to open
NAIA 3, because of unstable foundation and safety issues.
TCGI said code
violations “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.”
Remediation
works need to be done on beams, girders, post-tension slabs, columns
and piles. The consultants found that the foundations of the
vehicular access ramp were unstable.
The defects
may affect the computation of the total compensation due Piatco when
the court-appointed commission starts its assessment of the NAIA 3
property.
Last year the
scheduled opening of the NAIA 3 was also postponed when a portion of
the ceiling collapsed. Takenaka is currently repairing it.
In the
meantime, Cusi said the MIAA and other airport-based agencies would
exert all efforts to ensure that the use of the NAIA Terminals 1 and
2 will be maximized to accommodate passenger and cargo.
The Philippine
government took over the NAIA 3 in December 2004 through an
expropriation case. Last year it paid Piatco P3 billion as initial
compensation following the orders of the Supreme Court and Judge
Jesus Mupas of Branch 117 of the Pasay Regional Trial Court.
 --Jonathan
M. Hicap
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