Chinese firm offers to build $ 1.8B LRT South Extension project
January 5, 2010 11:06 pm
MANILA, Jan. 5 — A Shanghai-based construction company has offered to build the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system going to Cavite through Chinese funding, a high- ranking Transport official said.
Guiling Mamondiong, undersecretary for rails of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said the China Shanghai (Group) Corporation For Foreign Economic & Technological Cooperation (SFECO) has submitted a proposal to construct the $ 1.88 billion LRT Line 1 South Extension Project.
Mamondiong said the project may be funded by the China Eximbank.
The project aims to extend the existing 15-kilometer LRT 1 by an additional 11.7 kilometers, about 10.5 kilometers of which will be elevated and 1.2 kilometers will be at-grade.
The extension will start from the existing line’s last station at Baclaran and will traverse the cities of Parañaque and Las Piñas in Metro Manila before reaching the municipality of Bacoor, Cavite.
The project will include eight new passenger stations, with provision for two additional stations. It is expected to serve 800,000 passengers a day and cut travel time from Bacoor to Monumento, Caloocan City, to less than an hour.
Besides the Chinese contractor, Ecorail Transport Services Inc. of the group of Reghis Romero 2nd earlier proposed to construct the LRT South Extension under the Joint Venture (JV) agreement.
Ecorail's primary purpose is to engage in construction, operation, maintainance, coordination, and rendering technical expertise in the implementation of railway systems.
Mamondiong, however, said that his agency is still considering the proposal of Ecorail under JV agreement.
"The DOTC is still evaluating the proposal of Ecorail. It's either Ecorail or SFECO proposal, whichever is the most advantageous on the part of the government," Mamondiong said.
He, however, said "most likely Chinese ODA."
"The SFECO proposal is very advance. Their study is already completed, while Ecorail is still working on the structure of the joint venture and the valuation of project," Mamondiong said.
He added that the proposal of SFECO was already transmitted to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) for evaluation.
Earlier, the DOTC proposed that the project be funded through Chinese official development assistance (ODA).
But the Cabinet members have decided to implement the project through public private partnership (PPP) scheme. The revision of financing scheme came on the heels of a fiscal problems of the Philippine government. (PNA) DCT/DGA/utb
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