DMCI-led group is sole qualifier for LRT-MRT loop project

The joint venture of construction firms D. M. Consunji Inc. (DMCI) and First Balfour was the only one pre-qualified by the bids  committee of the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) to undertake one package of the three-package LRT-MRT loop project worth P6 billion.

Cesar Chavez, LRTA bids committee chairman, said that five groups which submitted eligibility documents for package A and B of the loop project were all declared “failed” last Wednesday and Thursday.

For package C, two groups, namely the DMCI-First Balfour joint venture, and Leighton Construction and A.M. Oreta Construction, submitted eligibility documents last Friday.     

After finding the documents submitted by DMCI-First Balfour complete and finding some required documents missing from those submitted by Leighton-A.M. Oreta, Chavez said they pre-qualified the DMCI-First Balfour joint venture and “failed” Leighton.      

Chavez said that due to the disqualification of all the bidders for package A which involves the foundation and viaduct construction component and B which involves the station construction, LRTA will schedule a re-bidding sometime this December. Package C involves the electro-mechanical components of the rail line extension project.

Chavez said that his committee had strictly followed the non-discretionary pass or fail criteria provided by R.A. 9184 or the Government Procurement Law in the pre-qualification process for the MRT-LRT loop project.       

Chavez said that the process they followed automatically disqualified a bidder once it fails to submit any document required in the check-list.      

It was learned that among the  bidders for packages A and B which submitted eligibility documents were F.F. Cruz and Filsytems; DMCI-First Balfour; Leighton-A.M. Oreta; Hanjin and Foundation Specialist; and the Cavite Ideal Construction Group.     

Chavez said that to ensure a transparent and fair process, the LRTA had made sure to have observers from the Office of the Ombudsman, the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission and the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines to watch the whole process which started last Wednesday and ended on Friday.

“We will ask the LRTA board for an authority for a rebidding for packages A and B,” he said.      

Chavez said that they will push ahead with the bidding for Package C with the DMCI-First Balfour as lone bidder.       

Melquiades “Mel” Robles, LRTA administrator, for his part expressed his belief that their timetable for the start of the LRT-MRT loop project construction by May 2008 is still on.      

Robles said that with bidders seeing the strict observance of rules by the bid committee, the LRTA expects them to submit complete set of documents in another pre-qualification meeting they will schedule within the month or early this December.      

“This will not affect our schedule,” Robles said.       

The LRTA schedules the completion of the project that will link the MRT line at its north end station in North Avenue with the LRT Line 1 at its north end station in Monumento on April 2010.