MPIC’s proposed Cebu bridge proj subject to Swiss Challenge By LAWRENCE AGCAOILI

MANILA, Philippines - The proposed of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. to build a P17-billion bridge connecting Cebu City and the municipality of Cordova will be subjected to a “Swiss Challenge.”

MPIC said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that the proposed Cebu-Cordova bridge project of Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. will have to go through a “Swiss Challenge.”

 “MPTDC can now start negotiations with both Cebu City and the Municipality of Cordova. Once done, a Swiss Challenge will have to be conducted before award,” the company stated in the disclosure.

Under the “Swiss Challenge” approach, the government would give other private sector participants a chance to submit competitive counter proposals. If the counter proposals are more attractive than the unsolicited or original proposal, the government would give the original project proponent the opportunity to match the competing counter proposal and win the project.

The unit of MPIC’s Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) is looking at forming a joint venture with the city of Cebu and the municipality of Cordova for the design, construction, implementation, operation, and maintenance of the toll bridge for a period of 35 years including preparatory work, design, and construction.

The project includes the construction of the main bridge structure, viaduct, causeway, and roadway.

In an earlier interview, MPTC president Ramoncito Fernandez said the construction cost of the toll bridge is estimated at P17 billion.

About 70 percent of this will be sourced from debt while 30 percent will come from equity contributions.

Assuming that all awards and approvals are secured by the first half of 2015, the MPIC unit intends to complete the project by 2020.

The proposed toll bridge spanning 8.3 kilometers linking the island of Mactan to mainland Cebu through the town of Cordova would decongest the traffic in two existing bridges and provide seamless access between the two islands.