Completion of Daang Hari moved anew to June

MANILA, Philippines - The completion of the first public private partnership (PPP) project awarded by the Aquino administration hit another roadblock as the P2.01-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) link is likely to be opened in June instead of this month.

Rafael Yabut, undersecretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), confirmed in an interview that the completion of the PPP toll road has been moved further to June.

“We are now looking at June,” Yabut said.

The Daang Hari-SLEX link now known as the Muntinlupa–Cavite expressway (MCX) was the first PPP project auctioned off and awarded under the flagship infrastructure program of the Aquino administration. Ayala Corp. through AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. bagged the toll road project.

It involves the construction of a new four-kilometer four-lane toll road, from the junction of Daang Reyna and Daang Hari in Las Piñas and Bacoor, Cavite to SLEX through the Susana Heights Interchange in Muntinlupa, traversing the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) Reservation.

The proposed link-road would use the Susana Heights Interchange as exit and entry from north and south of SLEX and would include the construction of a new bridge or widening of the existing bridge crossing SLEX as well as the expansion of the Susana Heights toll plaza.

The project was awarded to the Ayala Group in December 2011 and the project was supposed to be completed last June but was delayed due to problems with interconnection to SLEX.

The conglomerate was looking at completing the project last December after singing an agreement with South Luzon Tollway Corp. (SLTC) paving the way for the construction of the interchange linking the toll road to SLEX.

In another development, the Ayala Group together with three other conglomerates formed a consortium of four publicly-listed companies with a combined market capitalization of P1.62 trillion that submitted qualification documents for the P124-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike Project (LLEDP).

Listed SM Prime Holdings Inc. of banking and mall magnate Henry Sy joined hands with property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV), and Megaworld Corp. of businessman Andrew Tan joined hands to vie for the largest PPP project so far rolled out by the Aquino administration.

The consortium of companies listed at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) formed Trident Infrastructure and Development Corp. (TIDC) or Team Trident wherein each member would have a 25-percent interest.

The three other groups that submitted qualification documents to the DPWH last Friday were SMC’s San Miguel Holdings Corp., the Alloy-PAVI Hanshin LLED Consortium, and the Rainbow Consortium.

The Alloy-PAVI Hanshin LLED Consortium is composed of Malaysia’s MTD Group, Prime Asset Venture Inc. and Korea’s Hanshin Engineering Construction while the Rainbow Consortium consists of Rainbow Holdings Inc., PT Nusa Konstruksi Enginiring Tbk (NKE), The No. 4 Metallurgical Construction Company of China (4MCC), Shindong-Ah Construction Co. Ltd. (SCC), Director Operation and Maintenance by Rainbow Consortium, Korea Expressway Corp., Sta. Lucia Land Inc., Dong Myeong Engineering Consultants & Architecture Co. Ltd., and Kunhwa Engineering & Consulting Co. Ltd.