The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Riza Lozada
The Metro Pacific groups have concluded negotiations and will undertake the connector road project for the 13.5-kilometer North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx), which will cost an estimated P23.2 billion, after signing an agreement with the government, the diversified listed group said in a report to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The connector road plan is part of the flagship project of the Aquino administration under the Private-Public Partnership (PPP) program.
Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. (MPTDC) and its unit Manila North Tollways Corp. had executed a joint certification with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to complete the negotiations for the implementation of the NLEx-SLEx connector road project as an unsolicited proposal under the build-operate-transfer scheme, the report said.
The joint certification will result in the DPWH to start the solicitation of comparative proposals or the so-called Swiss challenge, pursuant to, and in accordance with the BOT Law, for an unsolicited project.
“The joint certification confirms that the parties have reached an agreement on the terms and conditions of the implementation of the unso-licited proposal for the design, financing, construction, op-eration and maintenance of the project as reflected in the results of negotiations sub-mitted to the Neda (National Economic and Development Authority) on July 29, 2015,” it said.
The Neda board approved the results of negotiations on Dec. 18, 2015 and the agreed draft toll concession agree-ment was submitted to the Department of Finance and the Office of the Solicitor General on Mar. 18, it added.
The DPWH, based on its timeline, expected to im-plement the right to match the offer of the Metro Pacific group under the Swiss chal-lenge and, thereafter, issue the notice of award for the project.
The signing of toll conces-sion agreement is scheduled for the fourth quarter, based on the DPWH timetable.
The implementation of the project is set to start in the that quarter and completed by January 2022 that covers Right of Way acquisition and the construction stage.
The DPWH said that based on the revised proposal for the project, the road will span 13 kilometers including a 5.5-km common alignment.
The project description in-dicated that the road will have an 8-km elevated four-lane highway extending the NLEx southward from the end of Segment 10 in C3 Road, Calo-ocan City to PUP Santa Mesa and connect to the Common Alignment of Skyway Stage 3, and traversing mostly along the PNR rail track and will have interchanges in C3 Road, and España Avenue, Manila.