All five groups that submitted pre-qualification documents for the modernization of Davao-Sasa port are eligible to bid for the government’s first seaport public-private partnership project.
The qualified groups are San Miguel Holdings, Corp.-APM Terminals Management (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Consortium; Asian Terminals Inc. and DP World FZE Consortium; Bollore Africa Logistics; International Container Terminal Services, Inc.; and Portek International Pte. Ltd. and AP National Marine Corporation Consortium, according to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).
Submission and opening of bids is targeted for the fourth quarter of the year while awarding of the contract is eyed in April 2016.
The 30-year operations and maintenance contract involves building a new apron and linear quay; expanding the back-up area, container yards and warehouses; and installing ship-to-shore cranes and rubber-tired gantries.
According to DOTC, once the first phases of the project are completed in 2018, the Davao Sasa Port “will be comparable to the country’s top ports in terms of speed and quality of service, cutting down cargo unloading from three days to three hours by using modern ship-to-shore cranes and port operating systems.”
READ: Davao-Sasa Port upgrade crucial to Mindanao trade growth
The economy of Davao thrives on banana exports, the region being the second largest banana exporter in the world. A study conducted by the International Finance Corporation and the Development Bank of the Philippines projects that container traffic in the Davao Region will increase by at least 6% annually over the next 25 years.
Without the added capacity of a modernized Davao Sasa Port, DOTC said “there will be a strong chance of shortage in port capacity in Davao bay which may affect small-medium banana growers who may not be able to export their bananas.”
An edge of an upgraded Davao Sasa Port is its proximity to banana plantations, as this will help growers save at least P8,000 in trucking costs per delivery, DOTC noted.
