"All options are being explored. There will still be meetings though we don’t want this to rely on meetings," he told The Star in an interview, referring to how Takenaka Corp. still refused to repair the facility during the first round of talks.
Cusi said MIAA’s lawyers have yet to recommend whether or not legal steps should be taken against the foreign construction company.
According to him, the legal department is still studying the matter in order to come up with a solid solution to the problem.
MIAA representatives met with Takenaka last April 30 to discuss NAIA-3’s structural defects after the Japanese firm refused to shoulder the responsibility of fixing the $650-million facility.
During the discussion, Cusi said Takenaka questioned the basis of recommendations made by engineers of two firms on the so-called structural defects and requested for more meetings.
Believing that relying on meetings will further delay the repair of NAIA-3, the MIAA management decided to have its lawyers look into the issue.
Last March, Cusi postponed the scheduled opening of NAIA-3 after TCGI Engineers Inc. and the Ove Arup & Partners HK Ltd. found structural defects in the facility that pose a danger to public safety.
The firms said remediation works need to be undertaken on some beams, girders and post-tension slabs along with columns and piles, while the foundations of the vehicular access ramp were also declared unstable, with the deck slab and columns requiring remediation.
The MIAA insisted that Takenaka, as the general contractor hired by the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (PIATCO) consortium, should be the one to repair it but the latter refused. – Michael Punongbayan