MEGAWIDE Construction Corp. has bagged its fifth public-private partnership (PPP) project, as the Transportation department on Friday night said it has awarded to the company's subsidiary the P2.5-billion contract to build, transfer to the government and operate (BTO) an integrated transport hub in southern Metro Manila.
Michael Arthur C. Sagcal, spokesman of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC), said in a text message to reporters that his department has awarded the P2.5-billion Integrated Transport System (ITS)-Southwest Terminal project to MWM Terminals, a consortium of Megawide and WM Property Management, Inc.
“We have awarded the ITS-Southwest PPP to MWM Terminals, which now has until February 12 to complete post-award requirements,” he said.
The listed construction company has already won four other PPP deals. It was one of two groups that bagged the P16.28-billion first phase of PPP School Infrastructure Project (PSIP) in 2012 and PSIP’s P3.86-billion second phase in 2013. Besides those, it also won the contracts for the P5.69-billion Modernization of Philippine Orthopedic Center in 2013 and the P17.52-billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport Passenger Terminal Expansion deal in April last year.
Mr. Sagcal said his department and MWM Terminals hope to sign the concession agreement “by the fourth week of February.”
“MWM will then have eight months from then to begin construction,” he added.
It will have “another 18 months or until the end of April 2017 to start operations,” Mr. Sagcal said.
Sought for comment, Megawide Construction Corp. Chief Marketing Officer Manuel Louie B. Ferrer said via text: “We’re delighted to receive the news that our company was announced as the winner of the first ITS deal and to be part of the progress of the country."
"We’re also bidding for ITS-South,” he added, referring to the other facility planned in southern Metro Manila.
The financial proposal of MWM Terminals included an annual grantor payment (AGP) by the government to the concessionaire of P100 million, much lower than its rival Filinvest Land, Inc.’s P650-million AGP.
In this case, the concessionaire with the lower AGP bags the deal, Mr. Sagcal had earlier said during the opening of financial proposals last Jan. 13.
This is the second time Filinvest Land and Megawide have done battle for a PPP deal. The Filinvest-Changi consortium lost to the GMR-Megawide consortium in the November 2013 auction for the Mactan-Cebu International Airport deal that was awarded to the latter in April 2014.
Megawide and Filinvest have also expressed interest in the first water PPP deal of the government, which is the P24.4-billion Bulacan Bulk Water Supply Project.
Of 16 groups that bought bid documents for the P2.5-billion 35-year ITS-Southwest Terminal project deal, only Filinvest Land and Megawide submitted qualification papers, technical offers and financial bids on Dec. 22 last year.
The ITS-Southwest Terminal Project -- to be built on a 4.59-hectare site near Manila-Cavite Expressway -- is meant to give commuters from the Cavite side access to various transport modes, including the future Light Rail Transit Line 1 South Extension.
The project is the first of its kind to be auctioned off by the government.
Besides the ITS-Southwest Terminal, DoTC is also looking at building similar integrated transport hubs in northern and another part of southern Metro Manila.
In January, four firms qualified to bid for the P4-billion contract to build an integrated transport hub near the Food Terminal, Inc. compound in Taguig City: Filinvest Land, Inc. and MWM Terminals, as well as Ayala Land, Inc. and Datem, Inc.
A pre-bid conference will be held “within the month,” while deadline for technical and financial bids will be in April, Mr. Sagcal had said last week.
The Transportation department is also looking at building a similar integrated transport hub in northern Metro Manila.
Among the locations being considered are the Veterans Memorial Medical Center, the former site of Manila Seedling Bank, the Philippine National Railways terminal in Caloocan City and the University of the Philippines Diliman campus. “The department is still in the process of studying which is more feasible,” Mr. Sagcal said on Friday when asked for updates on ITS-North.
Other than the five projects awarded to Megawide, four other PPP deals have been awarded so far by the Aquino government since the late-2010 launch of this flagship infrastructure program: the P64.9-billion Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) Cavite Extension; the P1.72-billion Automatic Fare Collection System; the P2.01-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway Link Road; and the P15.52-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway.
Megawide shares gained four centavos or 0.48% to close P8.40 apiece on Friday.
source: Businessworld
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