HART Committees Discuss Ansaldo’s Financial Status
(Friday, Nov. 25, 2011) – Members of
the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s (HART) Board of
Directors today heard the latest financial status of the company
selected for the Honolulu rail project’s core systems contract.
HART’s Finance and
Project Oversight committees met today with Ansaldo Honolulu JV
officials in light of questions regarding the financial capacity of
the winning bidder of the contract.Today’s meeting was scheduled
after HART interim executive director Toru Hamayasu announced last
week that the agency would seek additional financial assurances
from Ansaldo Honolulu JV regarding contract compliance.
The City in March
awarded the core systems contract to Ansaldo Honolulu JV, a joint
venture of Ansaldo STS and AnsaldoBreda. The contract includes
delivery of train cars and the train control systems, in addition
to the operation and maintenance of the rail system after
installation.
Working in
cooperation with the HART administration, the Finance and
Project Oversight Committees provided Ansaldo Honolulu
JV a list of questions in order to get additional
clarification on their financial and technical capacities.
Project Oversight Committee Chair
Damien Kim and Finance Committee Chair Don Horner said
that “the committees are appreciative of the candor and
the comprehensive information provided during today’s
two-and-a-half-hour meeting. Overall, the committee
members were satisfied that our HART administration
has the facts in order to make an informed decision of the Joint
Venture’s overall capacity.”
At today’s meeting, Hamayasu said he
will review the latest information before determining whether to
execute the Ansaldo Honolulu JV contract.
“Ansaldo STS has the demonstrated
capacity both financially and technically to serve the people of
Honolulu to build and operate a world-class rail system. We are
honored and proud to have been selected,” said Ansaldo STS CEO
Sergio De Luca. “The system will be built and operated primarily by
mainland U.S. and Hawaii employees. Our company has a long history
of delivering highly successful state-of-the-art rail systems
around the world. We have spent many months in planning the HART
system and are fully ready to immediately get to work to honor our
commitment.”