Gov’t eyes other options for Lakeshore project

The government is breaking into different components the P123-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike public private partnership project, which returns to the drawing board for a restudy after bidders snubbed its auction last month, the head of the PPP Center said.

The Laguna Lakeshore deal was an ambitious solution to the flooding problem in the area and parts of Metro Manila. It is composed of three major components: the world’s longest flood control dike, an overhead expressway and the reclamation of 700 hectares of land on Laguna Lake.

The bidding last month was declared a failure as participants, mainly conglomerates and major property developers, backed out of the auction, citing high risk and complexity of the project, legal uncertainties and the upcoming change in government leadership.

PPP Center executive director Andre Palacios Wednesday said the Department of Public Works and Highways would conduct a new technical study and that the PPP Center was ready to assist.

He noted that focus would be on which components of the project would work best together.

“I think the DPWH will approach the project with a fresh pair of eyes,” Palacios told reporters at the sidelines of the groundbreaking of the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 of San Miguel Corp.

The study will likely be finished under the next administration. Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson said earlier the Laguna Lakeshore project would no longer be revived during the term of President Aquino, who is stepping down by the end of June 2016.

The PPP deal combined a 47-kilometer tollroad from Taguig in Metro Manila to Los Baños, Laguna running on top of a flood control dike. Its main business sweetener was a 700-hectare land reclamation project on Laguna Lake that can be developed into mixed-use communities.

The three groups that qualified to bid but did not submit bid offers were Team Trident, composed of Ayala Land Inc., SM Prime Holdings Inc., Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. and Megaworld Corp; San Miguel Corp.; and Alloy Pavi Hanshin LLEDP Consortium, composed of Malaysia’s MTD Group, South Korea’s Hanshin and the family of former Sen. Manuel Villar Jr.

The  Laguna Lakeshore Expressway dike deal, like other PPP projects under procurement, is not covered by the election ban.

So far, 12 PPP deals valued at more than P200 billion have been awarded and four are set to be finished before President Aquino steps down in June. Of these, one project—the modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center—was terminated after the private sector winner walked away following years of delays on the part of the Department of Health.