Philippines aims to award $2.6 bln road project before Aquino steps down

Hanshin Construction

23/02/2016 05:07

MANILA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The Philippine government hopes 
to evaluate bids and select the winner for a 123 billion peso 
($2.6 billion) tollway and dike project before President Benigno 
Aquino steps down on June 30, a senior official said on Tuesday. 
    Rogelio Singson, public works and highways secretary, told  
ABS-CBN News Channel  that bid-evaluation "should not be too 
difficult" for what is planned as one of the country's largest 
infrastructure projects. 
    The secretary said the bid submission date, which has been 
postponed twice, has been fixed as March 14. There will be a 
maximum of three bids, he said, as that's the number of 
consortia that pre-qualified for the public-private partnership 
(PPP) project. 
    The three groups are: San Miguel Corp  SMC.PS , via its San 
Miguel Holdings Corp unit; Trident Infrastructure and 
Development Corp., also known as Team Trident composed of Ayala 
Land Inc  ALI.PS , SM Prime Holdings Inc  SMPH.PS , Aboitiz 
Equity Ventures Inc  AEV.PS  and Megaworld Corp  MEG.PS ; and 
Alloy Pavi Hanshin LLEDP Consortium, comprising Malaysia's MTD 
Group, South Korea's Hanshin Construction Co Ltd  004960.KS  and 
the family of former Philippine Senator Manuel Villar Jr. 
    The Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike project involves 
construction of a 47 kilometre (29.2 mile) expressway and a 45 
kilometre dike that will mitigate flooding in communities along 
Laguna Lake. 
    Another part is the reclamation of around 700 hectares 
(1,730 acres) of land south of Manila. 
    Some bidders had sought more time to prepare offers, 
prompting the government to postpone the bidding several times. 
    "Among the issues that they raised was the timing as well as 
some concerns about government proclamation on the land that 
will be reclaimed," Singson said. 
    The proclamation is being worked out by the Office of the 
President and multiple concerned agencies, and the Department of 
Environment and Natural Resources, he said. 
    "What we're working out is to make sure that all of these 
documents are issued before March 14," Singson said. 
    Since launching the PPP programme in 2010, the government  
has awarded nine projects worth 130 billion pesos. 
 
 (Reporting by Erik dela Cruz; Editing by Richard Borsuk) 
 ((enrico.delacruz@thomsonreuters.com; +632 841-8934; Reuters 
Messaging: enrico.delacruz.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: PHILIPPINES ECONOMY/INFRASTRUCTURE