THE government has once again extended the deadline for the submission of bids for the P2.5-billion Integrated Transport System (ITS) Southwest Terminal, a transport official said.
Transportation Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Jose Perpetuo M. Lotilla said the Department of Transportation and Communications has decided to move the deadline for the submission of bids to December 22 from December 12, due to requests from bidders.
“Prospective bidders requested for more time to prepare bids,” he said in a text message.
The tender was initially scheduled on May 15, but was rescheduled to June 16 to give ample time to bidders to finalize their bids. But changes were made in the contract to increase investor appetite,
thus forcing the agency to postpone the bidding to August 30.
It was then moved to September 29, but another round of revision on the project structure was made, hence an indefinite postponement.
The government then decided to set the bid submission to December 1, almost a year after the deal was put to the auction block in 2013.
The December 22 deadline is expected to be the last postponement of the bid submission date.
Twelve firms are participating in the bidding for the contract to develop a facility to connect passengers coming from Cavite to Metro Manila transportation systems, such as the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1, city buses, taxis and other public-utility vehicles.
The investors are: D.M. Wenceslao and Associates Inc.; Ayala Land Inc. and Ayala Corp.; Metro Pacific Tollways Corp.; San Miguel Corp.; Vicente T. Lao Construction; Egis Projects Philippines; Robinsons Land Corp.; Filinvest Land Inc.; Megawide Construction Corp.; States Properties Corp.; Expedition Construction Corp.; and Altus San Nicolas Corp.
The Southwest Terminal project, which will be constructed in 2.9-hectare area near the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway, will connect passengers coming from Cavite to urban transport systems in Metro Manila.
It will include a passenger terminal building, arrival and departure bays, public information systems, ticketing and baggage handling facilities and park-ride facilities.
The government has awarded eight contracts since the infrastructure program’s inception in 2010. It aims to sign at least 15 contracts by the time President Aquino steps down from office in 2016.
The state intends to plug the gap in the country’s transportation infrastructure in the next decade by rolling out massive infrastructure projects that are seen to spur economic growth.
3 comments
The development for future train systems are to be planned and executed as early as possible. Now that a viable way to save the MRT 3 has been on the table, the DOTC must sit down with MRTH officials and discuss things rather than insist that DOTC must do what it has proven incapable of doing all these years – run MRT 3 properly. If there are objectionable provisions in the proposed agreement, Sec. Jun must tell us now rather than just avoid giving an explanation for DOTC’s lack of action. We must not wait for a tragic accident to happen.
I just hope that they plans will be carried out well and hindi siya matulad sa mrt which has a very poor maintenance operations
I really hope that the plans will be executed well as it should be.