By Lailany P.
Gomez | Posted on Jul. 16, 2013 at 12:02am | manilastandardtoday.com
Three
conglomerates have expressed interest to bid for the P35.6-billion
Cavite-Laguna Expressway project, the Public Works Department said Monday.
Public Works
Undersecretary Rafel Yabut told reporters San Miguel Corp., Ayala Corp. and
Metro Pacific Investment were interested in the 47-kilometer road project.
“At least
three corporations have expressed their intention to bid for the project.
There’s SMC, Ayala and MPIC. SMC is very vocal with their intention. Ayala is
interested because of the massive property and land development in the area,
while for MPIC, well it has the Cavite Expressway,” Yabut said.
The Public
Works Department, the implementing agency of the project, modified the bid
documents from a combination of official development assistance and
public-private partnership to a “pure” PPP.
It modified
the bid documents, after SMC made an upfront payment of P11 billion to the
government for the NAIA Expressway project.
“The bid
documents are being finalized for the CALA Expressway because there has been a
paradigm shift, the ODA component on the opinion of SMC, when we did a market
sounding, they are of the opinion they don’t need the ODA. So we bite the
bullets, since we earned from the P11 billion SMC paid for the NAIA
Expressway,” Yabut said.
“So we
thought they are capable of financing the project even without the ODA just
what they did in the NAIA expressway, by very aggressive bidding,” he said.
Yabut said
the modified bid documents were expected to be finished by the third quarter,
which would allow the agency to advertise and conduct the bidding before the
end of the year.
The CALA
Expressway project is a four-lane, 47.02-km. at-grade road, which will connect
the Manila-Cavite Expressway and South Luzon Expressway.
The original
invitation to bid asked the private sector to finance, design and construct the
P19.7-billion Cavite section stretching 28.9 km. from Kawit to Aguinaldo Highway
in Silang, Cavite; and operate and maintain the entire 47-km. project.
The
government will finance, design and construct the P15.87-bilion Laguna section
with 18.1 km. from Aguinaldo Highway to SLEX Mamplasan Exit, Laguna.
The entire
project will cost P35.58 billion.
The new
proposal, however, has to be approved first by the National Economic and
Development Authority Board.
“It has to go
back to Neda for approval, before we can advertise and bid the project,” Yabut
said.
The CALA
Expressway is the agency’s third infrastructure project under the government’s
PPP program.
The first
project, the Daang Hari-SLEX, was awarded to the Ayala group, while the second,
the NAIA Expressway, went to Optimal Infrastructure Development of San Miguel.
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