DOTC expediting P65B LRT-1 Cavite extension project

MANILA, Philippines  - The Department of Transportation and Communications on Monday said it is expediting the bidding of the P65 billion Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite Extension project.

"The only delay was in the schedule of the NEDA (National Economic Development Authority) Board meeting.  Otherwise, we are still following the same four to six-month timeline from obtaining approval to set the bid submission deadline," DOTC spokesperson Michael Arthur Sagcal said following reports of delay in the project.

He added that the DOTC is facilitating the bidding process of the country's biggest Public Private Partnership project.

"We will adopt the single-stage bidding process, and we will set the bid submission date in the earlier part of second quarter of 2014," Sagcal said.

In a single-stage bidding process, interested groups will submit their qualification documents simultaneously with their technical and financial proposals, instead of having a separate pre-qualification phase. 

The process will do away with the two-stage process, effectively cutting the entire period by around two months, Sagcal said.

After the original bid for this project failed last August, the DOTC improved certain economic terms in the concession, which required NEDA Board approval.

These improvements include a provision that would oblige the government to pay real property taxes, ensuring the integrity of the facility’s structure for a two-year period, permitting a five-percent fare increase upon completion of the project, and allowing the submission of negative bids.

The NEDA Board approved the improvements in the terms of the project last Nov. 21.

The LRT-1 Cavex project retains the major components of the original scope of works, such as the operation and maintenance of the entire LRT-1 system for a 32-year concession period, and the construction of an 11.7-kilometer southward extension from the Baclaran station to Bacoor, Cavite.

It entails the construction of eight new stations, plus two future stations, in Parañaque City, Las Piñas City, and the province of Cavite, which would open up access to education and employment opportunities in Metro Manila to a total of around four million people who live in the area, the DOTC said.

Based on the Build-Operate-and Transfer law, the DOTC will publish its invitation to bid for the improved LRT-1 Cavex project for three consecutive weeks this December, beginning tomorrow, Dec. 3.