BIDDING for the delayed P60-billion extension of the Philippine Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) to Cavite province is targeted to take place in the first quarter of 2014, according to Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya.
An auction last Aug. 15 for the project, the government’s biggest public-private partnership undertaking, failed as three bidders backed off because of the lack of viability in the way the original terms of the contract were structured, and a fourth bidder tendered a noncompliant offer.
“The (bidding) is flexible between January and February (2014),” Abaya said at the sidelines of the Philippines’s mid-year economic briefing.
“We need to go up to NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) and talk about changes. Once we get that, we will do a single-stage procurement process,” Abaya said. “It’s basically the schedule and waiting for NEDA to convene. These are not intended delays.”
The talks with NEDA seeks to smooth over concerns the private sector raised, including real property taxes, predictability of power rates, tariff prices, warranty on the existing structure and allowing a negative or subsidy bid, the Inquirer said.
The DOTC was earlier targeting the LRT-1 extension work to begin by the second half of 2014.
The project will involve the construction of a 10.5-kilometer elevated section while 1.2 km will be at street level. It aims to increase average weekday ridership from 560,000 passengers to 820,000 passengers by 2015.
The whole stretch of the integrated LRT-1, with a total length of 32.4 km, will be operated and maintained by the private proponent for 35 years, including construction, information on the PPP Center website showed.
Only Metro Pacific Investments Corp., through Light Rail Manila Consortium, submitted a bid for LRT-1 expansion last Aug 15. Its partner Ayala Corp. did not participate while three other consortiums led by San Miguel Corp., DMCI Holdings and MTD-Samsung of Malaysia and South Korea withdrew their bids.
