By Azer N. Parrocha
MANILA, Aug 17 (PNA) — Eight firms on Monday submitted pre-qualification documents to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) for the Development and Operations and Maintenance (O&M) of five regional airport projects in the country.
These firms are Megawide Construction Corp.; MPIC JGS Airports Holdings, Inc.; San Miguel Holdings Corp.; Skylanders Inc.; Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc.; Union Equities Inc.; Sojitz Corp.; and JG Summit Holdings, Inc.
DOTC proceeded with the prequalification submission despite issuance of a 72-hour temporary restraining order (TRO) by the Davao Regional Trial Court against the bidding of the public-private partnership project on the same day.
In his 39-page petition filed before the Davao RTC last week, a concerned citizen named Andre Bucu questioned the bidding of the Davao airport and other airport projects.
Bucu said in his petition that the PPP project does not comply with the requirements of the Constitution and the Local Government Code and that the bidding process for the projects is unconstitutional and illegal from the start.
He also alleged that the respondents also failed to act with transparency mandated by law in order to ensure a far, open and competitive public bidding.
Schedule
The agency earlier said that the opening of bids is scheduled in January 2016, while award is scheduled in February.
The development and O&M of the regional airports will be bid out in two bundles. Bundle 1 includes the Php 20.26-billion Bacolod-Silay Aiport Project and the Php30.40-billion Iloilo Airport Project.
Meanwhile bundle 2 includes the Php 40.57-billion Davao Airport Project, the Php 14.62-billion Laguindingan Airport Project, and the Php2.34-billion New Bohol Airport Project.
The winning concessionaires for each bundle will handle the O&M of the airports for 30 years and is also expected to undertake expansion of facilities, as most of the airports are operating beyond their design capacity.
These improvements are part of thee government’s efforts to enhance passenger safety and convenience as well as to ensure more efficient airport operations. (PNA)