Lawmaker Ron Lam said that the government has thus far not provided him with any updates on the cable replacement work of the Light Rail Transit (LRT).
He confirmed the lack of updates to the Times on the sidelines of a media event hosted by the Legislative Assembly (AL).
Lam had raised the question at an oral inquiry session in the parliament. Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário declined to offer any specific information in response. However, he stressed that the government has no financial responsibility for the project because the infrastructure is undergoing a period of maintenance.
“As you know, we have sent the Secretariat a formal request for information, to which it replied with a press release containing all information already available before then, only the information was rearranged,” Lam said.
The lawmaker underlined his displeasure at the situation. “We have already sent another letter to the Secretary in the hopes of his upholding the law, as well as the rights of the legislature and legislators,” Lam said.
Lam has been requesting the investigative report on the problems that eventually led to the decision to replace all high-voltage cables throughout the whole system.
“The report is critical not only because the public will have a way to know what has happened, but also we can avoid the same problems based on the investigative report,” Lam insisted.
He was also not happy with Rosário saying that the maintenance period of the LRT had been reset. “I must reiterate that the standard should be universal,” Lam remarked. “Why did the Economic Housing estates with falling tiles not see their maintenance periods reset?”
Lam also slammed the government for its lack of respect for the AL. He reiterated that the Executive had replied to one of his written enquiries by stating that the matter had been addressed in a verbal inquiry session.
“The replies to written inquiries must be independent from those to verbal ones,” he insisted.
