Megawide appeals rejected proposal to renovate NAIA
MANILA, Philippines — Megawide Construction Corp. asked the Duterte government on Monday to reconsider its proposal to renovate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 which authorities denied last week.
“We just submitted our MR (motion for reconsideration),” Anna Salgado, the company’s media relations officer, said in a Viber message.
Megawide submitted the appeal to the transportation department and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), the state corporation that currently operates the three terminals of NAIA. Top officials from both agencies did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
No other details about the motion for reconsideration were released as of this posting.
The next step would be for MIAA to reassess Megawide’s P109-billion proposal to rehabilitate NAIA Terminal 1 but also more broadly, operate the three NAIA terminals. Last week, MIAA denied the project and revoke the company’s original proponent status, putting government efforts to decongest Manila’s main gateway back to scratch.
As OPS holder, Megawide would have had the first opportunity to match rival proposals to refurbish the airport during a Swiss challenge bidding.
While reasons for the denial were not immediately released, it was revealed during a Senate hearing last week that MIAA, in deciding Megawide’s application, ultimately agreed with the assessment of the finance department and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) that the builder does not have sufficient financial backing to undertake the massive rehabilitation.
Sought for comment on Monday over Megawide’s pleading to reconsider, acting NEDA chief Karl Kendrick Chua said in a Viber message “when MIAA writes NEDA on this matter, we can review it.”
At the time they questioned Megawide’s qualifications, Chua and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III called DOTr’s attention to the firm’s low equity that supposedly falls below the 30% equity component required under law to foot the bill. Megawide denied this, saying government miscalculated its equity standing since that of its foreign partner for the project, Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure, was not included.
Megawide and GMR also renovated and currently operate the Mactan-Cebu International Airport and Clark International Airport.
Similar with other big ticket infrastructure projects, the Duterte administration vowed to complete NAIA’s renovation within its single 6-year term until June 2022, only to be hit by numerous delays along the way. Before Megawide, a consortium of six conglomerates led by Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Group pulled out from the undertaking after government rejected revisions to the plan intended to make the airport financially viable amid muted travel during pandemic.
With Megawide’s standing as OPS holder rejected, MIAA has likewise begun accepting offers from other companies to rehabilitate NAIA, including that from San Miguel Corp. and Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions Inc.
As of 12:50 p.m., shares at Megawide were trading down 1.16% to P8.50 apiece on Monday.
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