Clark airport contracts awarded by November — BCDA

MANILA, Philippines — State-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) expects to award contracts for the power and water distribution requirements in New Clark City, as well as operations and maintenance (O&M) of the Clark International Airport before the year ends after auctions for both projects have been hit with delays.

BCDA president and chief executive officer Vivencio Dizon said winners of the bidding for the three projects would be named by November, months after their earlier schedules.

Dizon said bidders have sought extensions for contracts to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the electric power distribution system and the water and wastewater infrastructure in New Clark City, as well as the O&M for the Clark airport.

“So we’re inclined to give them another extension,” he said.

BCDA was originally planning to award the contracts for both power and water projects by September.

Dizon said two bidders are expected to contend for the electric power distribution system project — a joint venture of Meralco and Marubeni, and a tandem of Aboitiz and Kepco.

For the water and wastewater infrastructure, meanwhile, contenders include Maynilad, Manila Water and Prime Water.

As for the Clark O&M, Dizon said the bid submission was originally scheduled by end-August, but was moved to Sept. 20.

He said it is now extended to mid-October, with the awarding seen by November. 

“It’s a very complex bid because as you know, it’s a hybrid. The civil works is already ongoing, while operator will come in for a 25-year concession,” Dizon said.

The project will involve a 25-year concession to operate Clark airport’s existing terminal building, as well as the new terminal building to be built by the group of Megawide-GMR which bagged the engineering, procurement, and construction contract in December last year.

A total of nine firms have purchased bid documents for the Clark International Airport O&M. They are Metro Pacific Investments Corp., San Miguel Holdings Corp., Megawide-GMR Consortium, Filinvest Development Corp., AirAsia Group, Prime Assets Venture, Central Luzon Infrastructure Consultancy Inc. Consortium, GVK Airport Developers Ltd. and Groupe ADP.

Dizon said an almost similar timeline is also being eyed for bid submission date and awarding for the utilities concessions for New Clark City.

“It’s more or less same time as the airport,” he said.

The 9,450-hectare New Clark City is envisioned to be the country’s first smart, disaster-resilient and sustainable city.

The new metropolis will also have mixed-use of residential, commercial, agro-industrial, educational institutions and other information technology developments.