DOF paves way for NLEx-SLEx road link project

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) can award the elevated “connector road” expressway project even without fulfilling a requirement issued by the previous administration, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said Wednesday.

“My understanding is they can award it if they wish,” Dominguez told reporters when asked if the DPWH can issue a notice of award to Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. to finally start working on the eight-kilometer tollroad that would connect North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) and South Luzon Expressway (SLEx).

Even as no rival offers were made in a Swiss Challenge exercise concluded on July 25, the unit of Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp. is still without a notice of award. An official said the delay was caused by an opinion issued by the Department of Finance under the Aquino administration requiring the project be undertaken by a separate special purposes company (SPC).

While an SPC would be “more convenient for us so that if anything goes wrong, it [would be] very easy to identify assets involved,” the finance chief said it should not be a requirement.

Still, Dominguez said he would not recall the opinion of his predecessor. “But they [DPWH] can do it [awarding] if they see it fit. It’s not an ex cathedra [not binding],” he said.

In a recent interview, Rodrigo Franco, who heads Metro Pacific’s tollways business, noted the issue, while not considered a deal-breaker, could nevertheless have implications on their original proposal.

“Our proposal was made on the basis that the connector road would be operated as part of the NLEx instead of a separate company. If you change again the parameters, you change the entire project that was negotiated on,” Franco had said.