Transport system deal up for grabs

The Department of Transportation and Communications is accepting bids Friday for its first Integrated Transport System public private partnership deal, known as the ITS-Southwest Terminal, after launching the project almost a year ago.

Several groups are set to vie for P2.5-billion projected located near the Manila-Cavite Expressway of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

The PPP deal, which has been delayed several times as government had to revise its terms, is being implemented using a single-stage process, meaning qualification documents will be submitted today along with technical and financial proposals.

A dual-stage structure is when these are submitted and evaluated separately.

The DOTC said 16 companies had acquired bid documents for the ITS-Southwest deal, designed to create intermodal hubs where provincial buses would disembark passengers to transfer to other in-city modes of transport such as elevated railways, city buses and UV Express vans.

The move was aimed at easing congestion within Metro Manila.

DOTC spokesperson Michael Sagcal said the interested groups include Ayala Land Inc., San Miguel Corp., Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., Robinsons Land Corp., Filinvest Land Inc., Megawide Construction Corp., D.M. Wenceslao and Associates Inc., Egis Projects, State Properties Corp., Expedition Construction Corp., MGS Construction Inc., Altus San Nicolas Corp, and Tutuban Properties.

Sagcal said the department’s bids and awards committee would determine in 10 days which bidders were qualified.

Evaluation of technical proposals will require another 20 days, then the BAC will need 15 additional days to review the financial proposals of bidders that would pass both previous evaluations, he said.

The Southwest Terminal of the ITS project will be constructed within a site area of 4.6 hectares.

The project will include passenger terminal buildings, arrival and departure bays, public information systems, ticketing and baggage handling facilities, and park-ride facilities.

The private partner will undertake the design, construction, and financing of the ITS terminal as well as the operation and maintenance of the whole facility.

It can also undertake commercial development and collect revenues generated from the project, information on the PPP Center’s website showed.

The concession period, including construction, runs 35 years, it added.

A few days ago, the department cleared all four groups vying for a P4-billion ITS-South project in Taguig, which is being implemented under a dual-stage process.

That means Ayala Land Inc., Filinvest Land Inc., Datem Inc. and MWM Terminals, led by Megawide Construction Corp., have met the pre-qualification requirements for the PPP project and can proceed with submitting bids by April next year.

The government also plans to launch an ITS project in northern Metro Manila. Among the locations being reviewed are the Veterans Memorial Hospital and Golf Course and Manila Seedling Bank in Quezon City.