A few months ago, the spat between Lockheed Martin and the MTA over the state of various MTA security project bubbled over. During the last week of April, Lockheed sued the MTA to get out of its contract. The defense contractor alleged that the MTA had basically interfered with Lockheed’s ability to fulfill the terms of its contracts.
Yesterday, the MTA fought back. During an appearance before the City Council’s transportation committee, MTA lawyers talked about the countersuit they have filed against Lockheed. As Council member and Transportation committee head John Liu warned of an impending legal fight, Ronnie Hakim, an attorney at the MTA, explained the authority’s thinking. Tom Namako of The Post had more:
In April, Lockheed said that the MTA refused to give them access to critical subway tunnels that would allow them to install surveillance equipment. The MTA claims that Lockheed failed to make a system that actually worked. A trial date could be set for early 2010.
The counterclaim blasts Lockheed on several fronts, saying that the firm’s system failed repeatedly during tests at a center located at Mitchell Field on Long Island, that Lockheed falsely claimed that the work was progressing, that an MTA inspector was injured by poorly-maintined scaffolding , and that Lockheed’s subcontractors botched installation of arial wires across a bridge.
The agency also defaulted the firm and trash-talked Lockheed’s track record as a defense contractor for the federal government. “Lockheed has had problems in different kinds of programs. You may have read about problems they had with some of their defense contracts,” Hakim said.
In addition to the suit against Lockheed, the MTA is prepared to sue its insurance agency as well. The agency would prefer to convince the insurance agency that Lockheed is responsible for the failure to fulfill the terms of the contract. If the MTA cannot do so, to court they will all go.
As the legal dust settles, this story has been one giant mess. By now, nearly eight years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the MTA was supposed to enjoy a state-of-the-art security system with cameras galore. Instead, just 80 percent of the planned cameras are installed, and most aren’t doing much. Another 37.5 percent of all projects are behind schedule, many by a year.
As John Liu said, “the MTA has flushed $250 million down the drain and has little to show for it.” With these legal challenges, the MTA will try to get some of that money back. However, the reality of an insecure subway system remains. We can debate the need for more closed-circuit cameras and their effectiveness until the cows come home. For now, though, the only security measure fully realized is one that detects when unauthorized personnel are in restricted access areas. For $250 million and countless years and headaches, I would expect a bit more.
3 comments
Good. The MTA routinely gets screwed on contracts and its time they hold contractors responsible (and I’m a contractor!) Please MTA, sue the crap out of Siemens next for botching the A-Division’s “new” signals and communication systems which don’t, you know, work!
I wouldn’t be so quick to blame Lockheed on this one. Sure, tests fail. That’s exactly why you do tests, off-site no less, on brand new systems – to identify faults and fix them before investing in a wholesale implementation. Do you think the first prototype HDTV or rail-car that rolled off the assembly line passed its tests with flying colors? I doubt it.
The fact is, Lockheed wasn’t given access to tunnels, suitable equipment rooms, or telecom networks (see the first post on this issue) that were needed to get the job done. The claims by the MTA are defensive nitpicking and petty accusations that always come to surface when a business relationship goes sour.
Ronnie Hakim is just another shill for the MTA. She’d rather be traveling all over the US spouting off her transit expertise (Google “Ronnie Hakim” and see how presentations at conferences she does) than be at her desk doing her job. Since she didn’t do her job, even when she was acting President of MTA Capital Construction all she can come up with is wise-ass comments about Lockheed. The fact she wasn’t made the permanent President speaks volume about her skills as a competent person in handling large construction and public works infrastructure projects. Let’s look at MTA Capital’s stellar list of projects:
2nd Avenue Subway – 30 years + late, God knows how much over budget
East Side Access: 10 years late and way over budget
Extension of the 7 line: Late, but in their credit, making up time
Fulton Street Transit Hub: A disaster, 3 years late +, $300M overage
South Ferry Station: Delayed, because they didn’t design it correctly
(remember the platform gap issue, they missed by an inch?)
Real, competent and professional attorneys trash talk when they know they are going to win. The only winners here are outside counsel that the MTA will hire on a no-bid contract, likely a firm that Ms. Hakim’s husband works at.
I say dismantle the MTA and let a private contractor run it. It’ll make money and be on time. And they’ll be accountable, which under the MTA currently, there is no accountability. Just blame for everyone but themselves.