By Leslie Gatpolintan
Infrastructure conglomerate Megawide Construction Corporation is keen on participating in the development of the Sangley Point International Airport and the North-South Commuter Railway’s (NSCR) south line, as it targets to secure up to PHP25 billion worth of new contracts next year.
Megawide chairman and chief executive officer Edgar Saavedra told reporters over the weekend they would further take part in the government’s massive infrastructure push, particularly airport and railway projects.
Jim Feliciano, Megawide chief business development officer, said they have already obtained a bidding document for Sangley airport development.
“We are looking at potential partnerships but we are studying the terms at this moment because the timelines are quite challenging. Bidding documents were released Oct. 11 and bid submission is Nov. 25, so we are looking into it,” he said.
Megawide is the private partner of the Philippine government for infrastructure projects such as the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) and the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX).
Feliciano further said the tender for seven packages of NSCR’s south line starts next year.
“That’s Tutuban (Manila) all the way to Calamba (Laguna). So we are also interested to participate in the tender of those projects together with our partners or other technical partners,” he said.
Part of the NSCR project is the Malolos-Clark railway, in which Megawide already submitted the “best offer” for its first package.
“We submitted the best bid like in rail project which is quite big. It’s around USD500 million, although we are still waiting for the official award,” Saavedra said.
The NSCR’s south line and the Sangley Point International Airport are among the key flagship projects under the government’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure development agenda.
Apart from these projects, Saavedra further said they are eyeing to participate in more rail projects and sewerage treatment plants in partnership with the private sector.
“So in terms of construction, infrastructure, utilities, I think we will be very busy,” he added.
Feliciano said Megawide is “uniquely placed” to participate in the infrastructure program of the government given it is both a developer and a contractor.
“So regardless of the mode of procurement that applies or that is preferred in a particular administration, we can participate. So now it’s mostly ODA or government-funded projects and we can participate as a contractor. But if it is a PPP (public-private partnership) project, and we can also participate as a developer,” he added.
Saavedra said they have diversified their portfolio from just purely constructing buildings.
“Napupunta sa (we go into) rail, nagkakaroon ng mga (we have) utilities, infrastructure, so we expect to see more infrastructures especially south line, mabi-bid out ang mga (it will be bid out and) other infrastructure projects of Build, Build, Build,” he said.
(First publish in PNA)
