By Lawrence Agcaoili
(The Philippine Star) | Updated July 25, 2013 - 12:00am
MANILA,
Philippines - The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is set to
shortlist the bidders for the proposed P35.4-billion expressway that would link
the provinces of Cavite and Laguna in September.
DPWH
undersecretary Rafael Yabut said the agency’s Special Bids and Awards Committee
(SBAC) has invited local and international companies to bid for the financing,
design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the Cavite Laguna
expressway project.
Yabut said
the CALA project would be undertaken as a “pure” public private partnership
(PPP) project wherein the winning proponent would have to construct the entire
47-kilometer toll road.
Under the
original proposal approved by the board of the National Economic and
Development Authority (NEDA) last Jan. 18, the winning bidder would construct
only 28.9 kilometers from Manila-Cavite Toll expressway (Cavitex) in Kawit to
Aguinaldo Highway in Cavite while the government would construct the remaining
18.9 kilometers to be funded through concessional official development
assistance (ODA) funds.
He pointed
out that interested bidders would have until Sept. 23 to submit their
prequalification documents for the project.
According to
him, the Instructions to Prospective Bidders and the Information Memorandum
would be available to interested parties starting Friday until Sept. 20.
Yabut said
bidders are first pre-qualified based on minimum legal, technical, and
financial requirements as contained in the first envelope that would be
submitted on or before Sept. 23.
“Only bidders who pre-qualify shall be
permitted to submit bids for the project,” he stressed.
Companies
that have expressed interest in the project include diversified conglomerate
San Miguel Corp. (SMC), listed holding firm Metro Pacific Investments Corp.
(MPIC) of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, and conglomerate Ayala Corp.
The proposed
expressway project is a four-lane 47 kilometer closed-system tolled expressway
that would start from the Cavitex in Kawit, Cavite and end at the South Luzon
expressway (SLEX) at the Mamplasan interchange in Biñan, Laguna.
The project
also involves the construction of nine interchanges in Kawit, Daang Hari,
Governor’s Drive, Aguinaldo Highway, Silang, Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay, Laguna Blvd.,
Technopark, and a toll barrier before SLEX.
The proposed
expressway would provide a more convenient and faster route to or from Metro
Manila to the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon (Calabarzon) region and
help decongest traffic on the existing road network in the Cavite and Laguna
area and at the same time reduce travel time to Metro Manila.
The tollroad
would also serve as a connector between the existing and operational Cavitex
and SLEX and improve the competitiveness of Region IV-A or the Calabarzon as an
investment destination.
The DPWH
believes that the provinces of Cavite and Laguna are now considered as among
the most industrialized and urbanized areas in the country as both have been
home to international and multinational electronic, semiconductor, automotive
and manufacturing companies.
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