Smartmatic-TIM, the group that got hold of the automation contract for the May 2010 elections, confirmed that they are already done manufacturing no less than 45,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines that will be applied in the critical political exercise.

“We have delivered to the forwarding companies over 38,000 machines. They are no longer in our factory. They are already in the hands of the forwarding companies and what’s going on is that they need to negotiate with different shipping companies so they can put those machines in their ships,” stated Smartmatic International Corporation Asia-Pacific President, Cesar Flores.

Flores also assured that the overall 82,200 PCOS machines will all be in Manila in time for the elections. “They will be here exactly when we need them to be here,” he said.

The finished machines are apart from the 7,200 PCOS machines that Smartmatic-TIM had previously transported to the country in 2009. An additional set of 8,000 PCOS arrived in the country last week. The PCOS machines are being safely kept in a storehouse in Cabuyao, Laguna.

Flores also stated that the fabrication of the 82,200 PCOS machines may already be completed by the end of the January, given the present work pace in their factory in China.

“The last production will be done by closing of January. So by (end of) January, all the machines would have been produced and we would have started the process of forwarding,” he added.