DOTC to spend P834 M for LRT-Cavite consultant

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has earmarked P834.5 million for the hiring of a consultant for the P65-billion Light Rail Transit (LRT) line 1 Cavite extension project.

In a request for expression of interest, DOTC is inviting prospective bidders for the consulting contract.

Light Rail Transit Authority spokesman Hernando Cabrera said in a text message the consultant “will check the performance of the concessionaire on one hand, and the commitments of the government, DOTC and LRTA on the other hand.”

The DOTC said applications for eligibility would be evaluated based on non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria and the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) would draw up a shortlist of consultants in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

It added that the shortlist would consist of not more than five prospective bidders and would be based on applicable experience (30 percent), qualification of personnel (50 percent) and current workload relative to capacity (20 percent).

“Only the short-listed applicants shall be allowed to purchase the bidding documents for this contract. Eligible consultants shall be invited to participate in the bidding for this contract,” the DOTC added.

Likewise, the DOTC said it would use the quality-cost based evaluation/selection wherein the technical bid would be given a weight of 70 percent and the financial bid 30 percent.

The government and the tandem of infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) and conglomerate Ayala Corp. signed the concession agreement for the largest public private partnership (PPP) project awarded so far by the Aquino administration last Oct. 2.

MPIC’s Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp. controls 55 percent of the Light Rail Manila Consortium (LRMC) followed by Ayala’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. with 35 percent and the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure’s Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) PTE Ltd. with 10 percent.

Under the agreement, LRMC would operate and maintain the existing LRT-1 from Roosevelt in Quezon City up to Baclaran and at the same time construct an 11.7-km extension to the Niog area in Bacoor, Cavite consisting of eight new train stations traversing the cities of Parañaque and Las Piñas up to Bacoor.

LRMC has forged partnerships with three leading French companies to deliver a world-class rail transit system. Both Bouygues Travaux Publics and Alstom Transport are well known for their impressive track records in constructing mass rail transit systems in France and other parts of the world, while the RATP Group that operates the Paris Metro has been tapped as technical partner.