5 groups vying for P4.8-B JICA-funded Bohol airport

MANILA, Philippines - Five groups are vying for the P4.8-billion new Bohol Airport construction and sustainable environment protection project, documents from the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) showed.

DOTC Undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla identified the prospective bidders as the tandem of Maeda and Toyo Corp.; the joint venture of Taisei Corp. and JATCO; Shimizu Corp; the partnership of Suitomo Corp. and Mitsui Construction Co. Ltd.; and the joint venture of Chiyoda and Mitsubishi Corp.

The five groups submitted their technical proposals last week.

The DOTC said the project involves the construction of a new airport in the municipality of Panglao in Bohol that would replace the existing Tagbilaran airport.

In an invitation to bid, the DOTC said the project would have six components that is being funded through a concessional loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

 The first component covers the general requirements including insurances, employer’s and engineer’s facilities, environment management, project and maintenance equipment while the second component involves the construction of access road and airport infrastructure including runway strip, runway taxiways, among others.

The third component covers utility works such as water supply, power supply, sewage treatment followed by the fourth component covering the passenger terminal building, control tower, fire station, driver’s lounge, car parks toilet, guard house, among others.

The project’s fifth component is the air navigation facilities while the sixth component is the aeronautical ground lighting works.

The bidding is limited to Japanese nationals in the case of the prime contractor and other nationalities in case of the sub-contractors.

 If the prime contractor is a joint venture, the DOTC said the prime contractor should be Japanese and that they should contribute more than 50 percent of the total contract amount.

The DOTC said the bidding would be conducted through a single-stage two-envelope procedure with no prequalification in accordance with the applicable guidelines for procurement under Japanese official development assistance (ODA) loans.

To qualify, a bidder should submit its audited balance sheets or financial statements showing that its net worth calculated as the difference between total assets and liabilities should have been positive for the last five years.

Likewise, a bidder should have a minimum average annual construction turnover of ¥8 billion and its joint venture partners should have been a subcontractor or management contractor for at least 10 years.