Gov’t to pursue P3.8-B car plates deal

government intends to pursue its agreement with a previous contractor for the delivery of P3.8 billion worth of license plates, an official said yesterday.

Transportation Undersecretary for road Thomas Orbos said the contract of Filipino-Dutch consortium Knieriem BV Goes and Power Plates Development Concept Inc. is under evaluation and “being studied carefully.”

Land Transportation Office executive director Romeo Vera Cruz said discussions regarding amendments to the contract would be finalized by next week, subject to the approval of the DOTr.

“We are pursuing it. They still have to deliver about 11 million plates,” Vera Cruz said.

The contract for the supply of 15 million car plates was awarded to the consortium in 2013 as part of the five-year Motor Vehicle License Plate Standardization Program (MVLPSP) of the previous administration.

In July 2015, the Commission on Audit (COA) ordered the LTO to stop paying the suppliers for alleged violation of government procurement rules.

The disallowance covers the advance payment made by the LTO to the suppliers in June and July 2014 amounting to P477 million.

Of the 15 million plates, only four million have been distributed, resulting in a backlog of 11 million, according to the DOTr.

Last January, the Supreme Court declared the funding for the MVPSP as constitutional.

The COA also lifted the notice of disallowance against the LTO license plate standardization program.

Last July, the LTO started the release of some 231,332 license plates for motor vehicles registered from July 2016 to December 2016.