DESPITE calls from a qualified bidder to move the auction for the P122.8-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway-Dike deal to a later date, a senior official of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has indicated his office’s solid stance on preventing any more delays in the project’s implementation.
Public Works Undersecretary Rafael M. Yabut said Trident Infrastructure and
Development Corp., or Team Trident—composed of Ayala Corp., Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., SM Prime Holdings Inc. and Megaworld Corp.—has sought for the deferral of the auction’s schedule to give it ample time to prepare for its bid.
“The request for such extension was made by Team Trident to give them more time for a thorough preparation, so they can submit a competitive bid,” he said over the weekend.
Yabut added that San Miguel Corp.’s corporate vehicle for the auction is fine by the prospect. “We are still evaluating this without the transaction advisers,” he noted.
Three out of four groups passed the qualification stage of the tender process, namely, Team Trident, San Miguel Holdings Corp. and Alloy-Pavi Hanshin LLEDP Consortium of Alloy MTD Capital Bhd., Prime Asset Ventures Inc. and Hanshin Engineering Constructions. Rainbow Consortium—composed of Rainbow Holdings Inc., PT Nusa Konstruksi Enjiniring Tbk., The No. 4 Metalurgical Co. of China Ltd. and Shindong-Ah Construction Co. Ltd.—was disqualified from the qualification stage due to lack of pertinent documents.
Bidders have until July 6 to submit their technical and financial proposals to the DPWH. The department will then have 20 days to evaluate the technical proposals. The financial bids of those who passed the technical review will be opened and announced on July 27.
The top bidder’s financial proposal will then be scrutinized and, if it passes, the notice of award will then be issued. The awarding is slated for August 21. By September 20, the government and the private-sector partner should have signed the concession agreement.
The thoroughfare-cum-dike project will help mitigate flooding along the western coast of the Laguna Lake running from Taguig to the town of Bay in Laguna. It will also serve as an alternative transport route to the congested South Luzon Expressway, and enhance the hydrology for the ecosystem of Laguna Lake.
A total of 24 parties expressed their
interest in the multibillion-peso contract.
The winning bidder will start designing and constructing the expressway-dike by April next year. The thoroughfare should be commercially operational by 2022.
The project involves the construction of a 47-kilometer flood-control dike—on top of which will be a six-lane expressway—on an offshore alignment 500 meters away from the western shoreline of Laguna Lake. It includes interchanges, bridges, floodgates and pumps, from Taguig to Los Baños in Laguna.
It also involves the reclamation of 700 hectares of raw land adjoining the expressway-dike. The public works department has so far awarded two key infrastructure projects, namely, the P2.2-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway project, bagged by Ayala Corp. in 2011; and the P15.68-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport expressway, given to San Miguel Corp. unit Vertex Tollways Development Inc. in 2013.