Ayala, MPIC take PPP project to next level

A consortium led by the Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. has signed an agreement with Singapore’s MSI Global Pte. Ltd. to help implement a P1.7-billion project for the Philippines’ mass transit system.

The consortium won the bid for the automated fare collection system deal that will be used for Metro Manila’s elevated railways.

MSI Global is the commercial arm of the Singapore Land Transportation Authority specializing in integrated transport payment solutions.

“MSI Global is privileged to have been given the opportunity to … bring to the people of Metro Manila a unified ticketing system which will allow them to travel seamlessly across the transit systems,” MSI managing director Sim Wee Meng said.

The contract was signed on April 2, just days after AF Consortium of the Ayala group and Metro Pacific sealed a deal with the Transportation department that signaled the start of the work on the payment system.

AF Consortium is expected to complete the project in July 2015, Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya said.

The payment system, described to be similar to the Octopus smart-card system being used in Hong Kong, may be implemented by September next year.

AF Consortium bested three other groups after it submitted what the government said was the best offer. Militant groups have called on the government to scrap the deal, citing conflict of interest issues.

The AFCS deal, the second PPP project for Ayala but a first for Metro Pacific, brings to six the number of PPP deals awarded by the Aquino administration.

The other five are the Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway link road (Ayala), the Naia Expressway Phase II (San Miguel), two classroom building projects and the upgrade of the Philippine Orthopedic Center, which were bagged by Megawide Construction Corp. Miguel R. Camus