DPWH declares failed bid for P123-B Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike

THE Department of Public Works and Highways declared a failed bid for the P123-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike as bidders snubbed one of the administration’s largest public private partnership deals on Monday.

Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson said on Monday that none of the three groups that pre-qualified for the project, which combines a 47-kilometer tollroad, flood control  dike and 700-hectare land reclamation project in Laguna Lake, submitted offers.

The three groups are Team Trident, comprised of Ayala Land Inc., SM Prime Holdings Inc., Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. and Megaworld Corp; San Miguel Corp.; and Alloy Pavi Hanshin LLEDP Consortium, comprised of Malaysia’s MTD Group, South Korea’s Hanshin and the family of former Senator Manuel Villar Jr.

A unit of San Miguel submitted its bid package a few minutes before the 2:00 p.m. deadline but then withdrew almost immediately.

Bidders cited the project’s lack of viability and risks that remained unaddressed by the DPWH.  A source within Team Trident earlier cited uncertainties on the project’s connectivity to major roads like C5 and C6.

The DPWH earlier this month moved the bid submission deadline to March 28 from March 14, 2016 “to make the necessary modifications to the contract to address certain forseen risks”. The bid submission has been delayed several times since July last year.

Singson said the bids and awards committee will meet to discuss the next steps for the project.