LRTA re-bids P6.3-B rail loop project

The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) will hold a re-bidding for all three packages of the P6.3 billion Metro Rail Transit-Light Rail Transit (MRT-LRT) loop project.

LRTA administrator Melquiades Robles said the LRTA board of directors decided to hold a re-bid after no bidder was able to pre-qualify for Packages A and B and with only one pre-qualified bidder for Package C.

“We’ve already had the bidding details published. We could hold the pre-qualification by next week,” Robles told The STAR in a phone interview.

Package A involves the construction of the foundation and viaduct; Package B involves the construction of the three stations; and Package C involves the electro-mechanical components of the rail line extension project.

Nine companies participated in the pre-qualification of bidders held by the LRTA for the MRT-LRT loop project, which will connect LRT Line 1’s Monumento, Caloocan City station to the MRT’s North Avenue station by adding three more stations.

The joint venture group of construction firms D. M. Consunji, Inc. (DMCI) and First Balfour was the only one pre-qualified by the bids committee last Nov. 21 to 23.

LRTA bids committee chairman Cesar Chavez said about five groups that submitted eligibility documents for Packages A and B were all declared “failed” due to their failure to submit requisite documents.

For package C, the joint venture groups of DMCI-First Balfour and Leighton Construction-A.M. Oreta Construction submitted eligibility documents. Of the two, DMCI-First Balfour was the only one declared to have submitted all requisite documents.

The LRTA said it strictly followed the non-discretionary pass or fail criteria provided by Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Law in the pre-qualification process for the MRT-LRT loop project.

Allegedly among the bidders for Packages A and B were F.F. Cruz and Filsytems; DMCI-First Balfour; Leighton-A.M. Oreta; Hanjin and Foundation Specialist; and the Cavite Ideal Construction Group.

To ensure a transparent and fair bidding, the LRTA had observers from the Office of the Ombudsman, the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission and the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines watch the whole process.    

The LRTA timetable sets the completion of the project by April 2010.