The first phase of the SCTEP would actually comprise of Package 2 which is a 44-kilometer, four-lane super highway that would connect Clark to Tarlac.
Construction is scheudled to begin by February or early March next year with completion targetted by 2006.
The three prequalified Japanese joint venture firms are MTI Joint Venture, Hazama-Taisei-Nippon Steel Joint Venture and KOJM Joint Venture.
MTI Joint Venture is composed of the Maeda Corp., the Toyo Construction Co., Ltd., and Ishikawa-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.
The Hazama-Taisei-Nippon Joint Venture is made up of the Hazama Corp., the Taisei Corp. and the Nippon Steel Corp.
The KOJM Joint Venture is comprised of the Kajima Corp., the Obayashi Corp., JFE Engineering Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
According to BCDA officials Antonio Rex Chan (program director) and Rolando Tongco (program manager), the consolidation of the construction companies was necessary in order for the Japanese firms to fully comply with the strict bidding requirements of the BCDA’s Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC).
The notices of prequalification and the letters of invitation to bid were released to the three Japanese firms last Sept. 16, according to BCDA-SBAC chairman Isaac Puno III.
The government received an overseas development assistance (ODA) loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) amounting to ¥41.931 million, which represents 85 percent of the total package cost of the 94.5-km toll highways.
The remaining 15 percent will have to be counterfunded by the BCDA. Once the SCTEP is completed, travel time between Subic and Clark will be shortened to 30 minutes compared to the present two-hour drive.