11 groups vie for P35-B road project
Cavite-Laguna Expressway Route Map https://www.dpwh.gov.ph
The big-ticket Cavite-Laguna Expressway public-private partnership (PPP) project has drawn the interest of at least 11 firms, which have purchased prequalification documents released by the Department of Public Works and Highways.
A statement from the PPP Center said the firms included San Miguel Corp., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. of Ayala Corp., Makati Development Corp. of Ayala Land Inc., Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Aboitizland Inc. of Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc.
Also bidding for the toll road are Megawide Engineering Excellence of Megawide Construction Corp., Korea Expressway Corp., Malaysian-backed Alloy MTD Philippines Inc., Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Pte. Ltd., Leighton Contractors (Philippines) Inc. and Egis Projects Developer of Infrastructure and Service.
The Cavite-Laguna Expressway is the third project of the DPWH under the PPP program and its biggest so far with an estimated cost of P35.42 billion for the four-lane, 47-kilometer expressway.
The project will start from the Manila-Cavite expressway in Kawit, Cavite, and end at the South Luzon Expressway-Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna. When constructed, the Cavite-Laguna Expressway will decongest traffic along the Cavite-Laguna road network and reduce the travel time to and from Metro Manila.
The prospective bidders were given until Sept. 23 to submit their prequalification requirements.
The DPWH recently restructured the toll road into a “pure” PPP deal, which means the private sector will be responsible for the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the entire project.
Based on the original structure, a private group would operate the entire toll road but it would build only the 28.9-km stretch from Kawit to Aguinaldo Highway in Cavite. The government was to tap overseas development assistance (ODA) funds to build the remaining 18.1-km stretch.
Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said he expected the actual bidding to take place in December this year and the contract would likely be awarded to the winning bidder by January 2014.
