Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) on Monday allayed fears of delay in the bidding of the Light Rail Transit’s (LRT) Cavite extension, saying it will instead speed up the process.
“The only delay was in the schedule of the (National Economic and Development Authority) NEDA Board meeting. Otherwise, we are still following the same 4- to 6-month timeline from obtaining approval to set the bid submission deadline,” DOTC Spokesperson Michael Arthur Sagcal said in a statement.
“In fact, we are expediting it. We will adopt the single-stage bidding process, and we will set the bid submission date in the earlier part of Q2 2014,” he added.
The announcement came after DOTC Secretary Joseph Abaya said bid submissions for the P64.9-bilion project will be moved to the second quarter of 2014.
To expedite the bidding, the DOTC will adopt a single-stage process which requires interested groups to submit their qualification documents, together with technical and financial proposals. It will do away with the separate pre-qualification phase, cutting the process by around two months.
Sagcal said the original bid for the project failed last August, prompting the agency to improve its concession terms. Approved by the NEDA Board last November 21, the new terms include the government absorbing the obligation to pay real property taxes, ensuring the integrity of the facility’s structure for a two-year period, permitting a five percent fare increase upon completion of the project, and allowing the submission of negative bids.
The DOTC will publish its invitation to bid for the project, which involves the construction of an 11.7-kilometer railway line from Baclaran to Bacoor, Cavite, for three consecutive weeks this December.
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