LRTA extends deadline for LRT 1, 2 bid submission

MANILA, Philippines - The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) has extended the deadline for the submission of bids for the Light Rail Transit lines 1 and 2 maintenance contracts to give bidders more time to prepare their bids and the new committee members enough time to study the bidding process.

Hernando Cabrera, LRTA spokesperson, said in a text message that the agency has postponed the deadline for the submission of bids for the P423.2 million maintenance contract for LRT1 as well as the P1.33 billion maintenance contract for the LRT2.

Aside from giving interested bidders more time to prepare their bids, he said the extension would also give the new members of the Bids and Awards Committee – Rail more time to familiarize themselves with the bidding process.

“The extension was due to the new composition of the BAC – Rail plus the time involved was inherently short,” Cabrera said.

The deadline for the submission of bids for the maintenance contract for LRT1 worth P423.2 million was originally scheduled on Aug. 12. The LRT1 is currently being maintained by the group of ComBuilders and Technology (CB&T), PMP Inc., and Gras Sabrocai.

LRT1 is considered to be the first LRT system in Southeast Asia as it started operations in December of 1983. It now has 21 stations from Baclaran in Pasay City to Roosevelt in Quezon City.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is set to issue a Notice of Award to the Light Rail Manila Consortium for the P65-billion LRT 1 Cavite extension project.

Light Rail Manila Consortium composed of infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) through MPIC Light Rail Corp., conglomerate Ayala Corp. through AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., and Macquaire Infrastructure Holdings was the lone bidder for the public private partnership (PPP) project.

It offered to pay P9.35 billion to the government to undertake the project under the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) law or Republic Act 7718. The LRT1 would be extended up to Niog in Bacoor, Cavite.