The government deferred for the fourth time the bid submission for the P122.8-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike Project because of minor changes in the terms of the contract, the Public Works Department said Monday.
Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said the bid submission for the largest toll road project under the public-private partnership scheme was moved by two weeks to March 28 from March 14.
“We have to give time for the bidders to discuss a minor change in the concession agreement on termination payment provision,” Singson said.
This was the fourth time the agency extended the bid submission deadline. The last one was deferred to Jan. 7, 2016 from Nov. 6.
Under the original schedule, pre-qualified bidders had until July 6 to submit their technical and financial proposals. Technical proposals were supposed to be evaluated between July 7 and July 26, while the financial proposals would be examined between July 27 and Aug. 10.
The Public Works Department planned to award the project on Aug. 21 and sign the concession agreement on Sept. 20 last year.
The three prospective bidders were San Miguel Holdings Corp., Alloy Pavi Harshen LLEDP Consortium and Team Trident.
Team Trident is composed of Trident Infrastructure and Development Corp., Ayala Land Inc., Megaworld Corp., Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. and SM Prime Holdings Inc.
The Alloy-Pavi Hanshin LLEDP Consortium consists of Malaysia’s Alloy MTD Capital Berhad, Prime Asset Ventures Inc. and Hanshin Engineering Construction.
The LLED project is the largest public-private partnership venture so far, involving the construction of a flood control dike, an expressway on top of it, and the reclamation of over 700 hectares of land for commercial development.
The LLED concession will last 37 years, including seven years for design and construction and 30 years for operation and maintenance.
It will be financed mainly by private capital with no government subsidy, except for right-of-way costs.