Four groups line up
for railway deal
Posted
on January
28, 2015
FOUR
INVESTOR groups have sought clearance to bid for a contract to operate and
maintain (O&M) the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) system under the
government’s public-private partnership (PPP) program, the Department of
Transportation and Communications (DoTC) said on Tuesday.
The P2.27-billion Light Rail Transit Line 2 extension is expected to add 130,000 commuters to the system’s current 240,000 daily volume when it is completed. -- BW File Photo
DoTC, agency in charge
of the project, identified four prospective bidders that submitted
prequalification documents for the auction for the LRT-2 O&M contract as:
Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc.-SMRT International Pte. Ltd. Consortium; D.M.
Consunji, Inc.-Tokyo Metro Company Ltd. Consortium; Light Rail Manila 2 (LRM2)
Consortium (led by LRM Holdings, Inc. of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and
Ayala Corp., as well as RATP Transdev Group and RATP Development); and San
Miguel Corp.-Korea Railroad Corp. (Korail) Consortium.
A total of 11 companies had bought
prequalification and bid documents for the auction. The others that bought such
documents but did not submit were GT Capital Holdings, Inc.; Marubeni Corp.;
APT Global, Inc.; and Globalvia.
“Only four consortiums submitted qualification
documents for LRT-2 O&M, those are Aboitiz-SMRT; DMCI-Tokyo Metro; LRM2;
and San Miguel-Korail,” DoTC Spokesperson Michael Arthur C. Sagcal told
reporters.
The Transportation department said in a statement
that it aims to announce those that qualify by the “end of February,” while
submission and opening of financial and technical proposals “should be held in
the second half of the year.”
The department had called for interested parties
for the LRT-2 O&M on Sept. 13 last year.
EXTENSION
The existing 13.8-kilometer (km) LRT-2 traverses
the cities of Manila, San Juan, Quezon City, Marikina and Pasig, servicing an
estimated 240,000 commuters each day.
The winning concessionaire will take over the
O&M of the existing line and of the 4.19-km “East Extension,” according to
a project brief on the Public-Private Partnership Center Web site. The line
will be extended -- under a P2.27-billion project of the department and the
Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) -- to Masinag in Antipolo City from the
existing Santolan station along Marcos Highway in Pasig City.
Also on Tuesday, the Transportation department
said in a statement that it and LRTA awarded the LRT-2 East Extension project
to D.M. Consunji, Inc. (DMCI).
Asked for details, LRTA Spokesperson Hernando T.
Cabrera replied in a text message: “DMCI was the only one that participated in
the auction of the project in December.”
The LRT-2 East Extension project contract covers
consultancy, detailed engineering design and construction supervision work.
DMCI will have 18 months to complete the civil works for the elevated viaduct.
The Transportation department said in an invitation to bidders published in a
newspaper in October last year that it will spend “P2.27 billion for the
construction of elevated guideway, inclusive of duties, taxes, and other
charges,” with funding to be taken from appropriations under this year’s
national budget.
The extension, when completed, is expected to add
130,000 commuters to the existing line’s 240,000 daily volume.
Nine PPP deals have been awarded since the
flagship infrastructure program was launched in late 2010: P2.5-billion
Integrated Transport System-Southwest Terminal project; P17.52-billion
Mactan-Cebu International Airport Project; P64.9-billion LRT Line 1 Cavite
Extension; P1.72-billion Automatic Fare Collection System; P2.01-billion Daang
Hari-South Luzon Expressway Link Road; P15.52-billion Ninoy Aquino
International Airport Expressway; P16.28-billion first phase of the PPP for
School Infrastructure Project (PSIP); PSIP’s P3.86-billion second phase; and
P5.69-billion Philippine Orthopedic Center modernization.
