Mactan-Cebu International Airport: PPP auction postponed

THE GOVERNMENT’S focus on typhoon relief operations has forced a fresh postponement of an already-delayed public-private partnership (PPP) project.



"The bid submission date for the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) project originally scheduled this Friday has been postponed since the NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) Board meeting did not push through under current circumstances," Transportation department spokesperson Michael Arthur C. Sagcal yesterday said.

The NEDA board, chaired by President Benigno S. C. Aquino III, needs to approve a revised concession agreement for the MCIA project. A meeting was scheduled for Monday but Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan on Sunday said it had been moved to Wednesday.

Yesterday, Mr. Balisacan texted: "The NEDA Board meeting has been postponed to give priority to urgent relief and rehab efforts in typhoon Yolanda-affected areas."

A new meeting date has not been set.

"We are still confirming the new schedule. Should the proposed revisions be approved by then, we will schedule the opening [of bids] five days after," Mr. Sagcal noted.

The MCIA project was originally set to be auctioned off last Aug. 28 but interested bidders balked at the offered contract. The Transportation department moved to accommodate their concerns, rescheduling the bidding to mid-October and then to Nov. 15.

The concession agreement’s terms have since been sweetened to include the following:

• lengthening the concession period to 25 years from 20 years;

• transferring the operation and maintenance of the airport apron to the concessionaire, including the right to derive revenue from these areas;

• allowing for flexibility in the implementation of capacity augmentation provisions;

• sharing of the real property tax liability; and

• further raising a prohibition on competing airports to 25 years from 20. In September this bar was increased to 20 from 10 years.

Seven groups have pre-qualified to bid for the project:

• the Metro Pacific Investment Corp.- JG Summit consortium;

• AAA Airport Partners of the Ayala and Aboitiz groups;

• Filinvest-CAI consortium;

• San Miguel Corp.-Incheon Airport consortium;

• First Philippine Airports led by First Philippine Holdings, Inc.;

• Premier Airport Group led by SM Investments Corp.; and

• the GMR Infrastructure and Megawide consortium.

The MCIA project includes the rehabilitation of the existing terminal and construction of a new building with an eight-million annual passenger capacity.

The airport -- the Philippines’ second largest and gateway to the Visayas -- is now being used as a staging point for relief operations to areas devastated by super typhoon Yolanda. Cebu was largely spared by the storm, known internationally as Haiyan, which ripped through the central Philippines last Friday.

Aside from the airport project, the NEDA Board was also set discuss two other PPP projects that were deferred due to the need to revise concession agreements: the P1.72-billion Automated Fare Collection System and the P60-billion Light Rail Transit Line 1 extension. -- L. C. S. Marasigan

source:  Businessworld