DOTC to bid out P4-B Davao wharf

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) will bid out the construction, operation and maintenance of the proposed P4.04-billion Sasa Wharf at the Davao Port in Mindanao in the first quarter this year.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo said the agency is set to present the project to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) for approval early this year.

 â€œWe will go up to NEDA and we hope to bid out the project in the first quarter,” Abaya stressed.

The project, he explained, would be under the government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme.

The government is looking at increasing the capacity of the Davao Port to 1.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) over the next five years based on the estimates made by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) from the current level of 700,000 TEUs.

The DOTC earlier commissioned a team led by state-run Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) as transaction advisor for improvement works on the Sasa Wharf.

The DBP team is composed of the International Finance Corp. (IFC) and HPC Hamburg Port Consulting Gmbh of Germany.

Davao Integrated Port Stevedoring Service Corp. of Razon-owned International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) operates a cargo handling facility at the Davao Port.

Abaya earlier said the Aquino administration is set to rehabilitate more ports to energize the countryside and promote inter-island trading and tourism.

He said the objective is to reduce compliance, transport and transaction costs for agriculture products and related inputs that can result in a more efficient and competitive trade and transport environment.