Spanish firm keen on LRT-1 project

The revised Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) Cavite extension project has drawn a new prospective bidder, international player Globalvia Infraestructuras S.A. of Spain, which acquired bid documents last week, PPP Center Cosette Canilao said.

Globalvia’s interest  adds to that of the four previously prequalified bidders for the P64.9-billion public private partnership deal to extend the LRT-1 system in Metro Manila to Cavite province, she said.

“It  (Globalvia) holds three or four rail concessions in Spain alone,” Canilao said in an interview. “They have not disclosed yet their local partner.”

The four previously prequalified groups are the consortia led by DMCI Holdings Inc., Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Ayala Corp., San Miguel Corp. and MTD-Samsung. Canilao said the four groups remained interested in the project.

Megawide Construction Corp. had also said it was keen on participating in the bidding.

Canilao noted that the four pre-qualified groups—which either withdrew from the bidding or submitted noncompliant offers that caused the failure of the Aug. 15 LRT-1 expansion bidding—“have automatic access to the data room and new bid documents.”

“That’s only if they do not change their group’s composition,” Canilao said.

The Department of Transportation and Communications started to accept bids for its tweaked LRT-1 Cavite expansion contract on Dec. 3.

To save on time, the deal was being auctioned off under an expedited “single-stage” process, where qualification, technical and financial proposals will have to  be submitted on April 28 next year.

The railway deal, the largest under the Aquino administration’s PPP program, involves the construction of a mostly elevated 11.7-kilometer railway extension from Baclaran terminal to Bacoor in Cavite. The winning bidder will operate the entire LRT-1 system for a period of 32 years.

The LRT-1 extension aims to provide an affordable commuting alternative for about four million people living in Parañaque, Las Piñas and Cavite, the DOTC said.

The initial auction failed as private sector groups found the project non viable under the previous structure.

The new terms involve the government absorbing the obligation to pay real property taxes, ensuring the integrity of the facility’s structure for a two-year period, permitting a 5-percent fare increase upon completion of the project, and allowing the submission of negative bids.

The changes were approved by President Aquino in a National Economic Development Authority board meeting last Nov. 21.