CPA rebids P500 million Pier 5 project

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu Port Authority (CPA) has set the rebidding of the P500-million Pier 5 construction project tomorrow after it disqualified all the four eligible bidders.

The opening of the bid is scheduled tomorrow at 9 a.m. at CPA Main Building, CIP Complex at North Reclamation Area in Cebu City.

The Invitation To Bid (ITB) published on January 19, 2021 in the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) website did not state the reason for the rebidding.

In September last year, nine contractors from Visayas and Mindanao had participated in the bidding of the project with an approved budget for the contract (ABC) of P508,340,279.

During the opening of bids, only four were declared eligible. They were Sunwest Construction and Development Corp./A.T. Tan Construction Corporation Joint Venture; Equi-Parco Construction Corp.; UKC Builders, Inc.; and BNR Construction and Development Corp.

BNR Construction and Development Corp. submitted the lowest bid price of P507,445,064.27 and offered a 22-percent discount, making the bid amount of P395,885,150.13.

However, Sunwest Construction and Development Corp./A.T. Tan Construction Corp. JV offered a higher discount of 24.24 percent to its bid price of P508,087,615.09, making its bid amount to P384,927,177.19.

CPA Bids and Awards Committee vice chairperson, Atty. Karen Quiñanola-Gonzales, who presided over the opening of bids, declared the bid of Sunwest Construction and Development Corp./A.T. Tan Construction Corp. JV as the Lowest Calculated Bid. It was then subjected to post-qualification evaluation.

The project was supposed to start last October and is expected to be completed in December 2021.

The proposed Pier 5 will be 155 meters long and 50 meters wide with a draft of 8.5 to 11 meters. It will have the same concrete deck elevation, mooring facilities and back-up area coverage as Pier 4.

The new pier is expected to provide additional berthing space and cargo area to decongest the Port of Cebu. — KQD (FREEMAN)