Gov’t sets bid for NAIA expressway proj

MANILA, Philippines - The government expects to bid out the P15.52 billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) expressway phase II project in the first half this year.

Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. chairman Cristino Naguiat Jr. said the expressway project linking three terminals of the NAIA with each other and to the Entertainment City along Roxas Boulevard is up for bidding either in the first quarter or second quarter of the year.

According to the Department of Public Works and Highways’ website,  submission of bids for the project is due on Feb. 26 while the notice of award has been scheduled in April. 

The government originally set the bidding in June 2012 but postponed it to this year to give interested parties more time to finalize their bids.

At least 13 firms including some of the country’s biggest conglomerates have signified interest to bid for the project.  These include Ayala Corp., San Miguel Corp., Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., DM Consunji, EEI Corp., Megawide Construction Corp., Macquarie Capital Securities, EGIS Projects, M/S IL and FS Transportation Network, Alloy MTD Philippines, J.E. Manalo Construction, Daelim Philippines and C.M. Pancho Construction.

The NAIA expressway project, one of the big-ticket infrastructure projects under the Aquino’s Public-Private Partnership program, aims to reduce to eight minutes the average 24-minute travel time for passengers from Skyway to NAIA Terminal I.

Naguiat said all four  Pagcor license holders within the Entertainment City would provide P6.5 billion contribution for the construction of the project.  These include port magnate Enrique RAzon’s Bloomberry Resorts Corp., tycoon Henry Sy’s Belle Corp., Travellers Hotel Group ( a joint venture between businessman Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global Group Inc. and Malaysian conglomerate Genting Group), and Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada’s Universal Entertainment Corp.

Approved by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) last May 30, the phase II project will involve a four-lane elevated expressway with a total length of 7.15 kilometers. 

Construction is expected to take approximately two years with full operations scheduled to start in 2016. The government will finance the road right of way of acquisition at P1.021 billion.

The project will start from the Skyway to the existing road alignments over Sales Avenue, Andrews Avenue, Domestic Road, and NAIA Road.  It provides access to NAIA Terminals I, II, and III and links to other expressways like the Skyway and the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway.