MIAA board makes denial of Megawide OPS appeal official

MANILA, Philippines — The board of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) has officially informed Megawide Construction Corp. and GMR Infrastructure Ltd. of India that their P109-billion offer to upgrade and rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has reached the end of the line.

MIAA, in a letter dated Jan. 25, told Megawide and GMR that their motion for reconsideration on the revocation of their original proponent status (OPS) for the project has been denied.

The decision has been arrived at following a special meeting of MIAA’s board of directors last Jan. 14.

“We wish to confirm that the board of directors of the MIAA denied the motion for reconsideration of the consortium of Megawide and GMR Infrastructure, which sought to overturn the revocation of the consortium’s original proponent status for the rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport,” Megawide said yesterday.

“While we believe that we have met all the requirements of the government to undertake the rehabilitation of NAIA, we respect its decision on this matter, and we are ready to move on to other projects of equal significance,” the company said.

In its letter, MIAA cited three reasons for its decision to deny Megawide’s appeal.

First, it said it recognizes that the documents submitted by the consortium raise questions of legalities under the build-operate-transfer law, “as these information were belatedly submitted.”

MIAA said the motion for reconsideration as presented could also no longer remedy the financial deficiency of the submission noted by the Investment Coordination Committee of the NEDA and the required sufficient documentation for ICC-NEDA evaluation.

Lastly, it said the motion for reconsideration as presented “averred reasons which should have been addressed at the very beginning upon submission of the consortium’s original proposal.”

The MIAA board granted the Megawide-GMR team in July last year the OPS for NAIA rehabilitation project, after government negotiations with a consortium of conglomerates bogged down. It revoked the said OPS last month, prompting Megawide to file a motion for reconsideration.

“We truly wish the government and other interested parties success in the transformation of NAIA. With its location at the heart of the capital region, it remains a vital airport for Metro Manila and the Philippines. We sincerely hope for its full rehabilitation for the benefit of Filipinos and the entire Philippine airport system,” Megawide said.

The company vowed to continue pursuing its mission to engineer a first-world Philippines and deliver infrastructure projects that will bring pride and open economic opportunities for the country.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez earlier said the government is ready to undertake the upgrade of NAIA--although not as grand as what the private sector is proposing--if investor offers to do so will not meet government demands.

Two more companies--Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions Inc. and San Miguel Corp.--have also submitted their respective unsolicited proposals for NAIA and could be tapped by the government should it decide to engage a new negotiations with the private sector.