The Department of Transportation on Thursday said it is still open to the proposal of Megawide Construction Corp. and foreign partner GMR Infrastructure Limited to develop and rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, although San Miguel Corp. submitted a new proposal for the project.
Ed Monreal, general manager of Manila International Airport Authority, told a Senate hearing San Miguel and Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions Inc. submitted separate offers to develop and rehabilitate NAIA.
Monreal, however, said “no talks” were ongoing with San Miguel and PAGSS.
“Will still awaiting the letter from Megawide, the [MIAA] Board needs to convene and then we will see how the board will decide,” Monreal said.
Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade said in the same hearing his agency was still open to the proposal of Megawide-GMR to upgrade NAIA.
Megawide-GMR earlier said it would immediately appeal the decision of the government to strip their original proponent status on the project. Megawide and GMR Infrastructure first submitted a proposal for the rehabilitation of NAIA in 2018.
Under the updated proposal submitted in November this year, the consortium plans to spend P109 billion under a 25-year concession period. The company will construct the project in three phases such as the improvement of airside and terminals and the connection via bus rapid transit.
They will also build a new terminal, additional taxi lanes and an elevated railway.
NAIA Consortium earlier informed the government that they would no longer pursue the P102-billion NAIA rehabilitation project because they were not confident about financing the project.
NAIA Consortium members include Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Alliance Global Group Inc., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Filinvest Development Corp. and JG Summit Holdings Inc.
San Miguel already awarded a $1.73-billion contract to the Philippine unit of Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. to undertake land development of Manila International Airport project in Bulacan province.
“Given this, the construction of the Bulacan airport is set to take off in the first quarter of 2021,” SMC said in a statement earlier.
Ang said that Dutch firm Royal Boskalis, through wholly-owned subsidiary Boskalis Philippines Inc., was chosen to undertake land development works for the airport project, after a rigorous selection process that included the world’s biggest and best dredging companies.
“Our selection of a global giant in dredging shows how ready, willing, and committed we are to do everything necessary to make sure this airport project is developed properly and sustainably. We will make sure it will serve and benefit Filipinos, our host province Bulacan, and the rest of the Philippines, for many generations to come,” Ang said.
“Boskalis has committed to ensure that the area will be suitable for development. It will be designed with the highest technical and environmental standards, so it can withstand potential large earthquakes, local typhoon conditions, and even future sea level rise,” he said.
