Philippines to rethink Laguna Expressway highways work

The Philippines might separate a 47km six-lane road construction element from a complicated land reclamation and dike development contract recently shunned by preferred bidders. None of the three qualified bidders for the Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike public-private partnership deal submitted final bids for the contract. There were concerns over the legality of reclaiming 700 ha of land and whether investors could make money from it.
May 3, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

The Philippines might separate a 47km six-lane road construction element from a complicated land reclamation and dike development contract recently shunned by preferred bidders.

None of the three qualified bidders for the Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike public-private partnership deal submitted final bids for the contract. There were concerns over the legality of reclaiming 700 ha of land and whether investors could make money from it.

The pre-qualified consortia were Trident Infrastructure and Development consortium – consisting of SM Prime Holdings, Megaworld, Ayala Land and Aboitiz Equity Ventures - the Alloy-PAVI LLEDP Consortium and San Miguel Holdings

Work was to have included 700 ha of coastal reclamation of Laguna de Bay from Taguig in Metro Manila to Calamba and Los Baños in Laguna, as well as associated bridges, pumping stations and ancillary flood gates.

The expressway was to have coast around $860 million, according to some estimates. It was expected to reduce travel time between Metro Manila and Laguna from 90 minutes to 35 minutes, and ease traffic and mitigate flooding between Taguig and Los Baños.

Bidding had been delayed several times due to environmental concerns, including how the project might displace local fishing boats from their harbours and fishing grounds.

Leading the review of the unwanted contract is the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Business World On-Line quoted Andre Palacios, executive director of the Public-Private-Partnership Center, saying the government department is rethinking which components of the discredited contract might go together. There is a possibility that the road work is hived off.

Finance & Funding

Related Content

  • Major highway growth in Portugal
    April 12, 2012
    Twenty years ago Portugal was bottom of the European league in terms of roads and safety. A series of ambitious plans has seen the country rise to the top. Patrick Smith reports on how this was achieved In Portugal, out of 3,600km of main national roads (IP+IC), some 1,500km of motorways/high-capacity routes are financed under public-private partnership (PPP) agreements. These are tolled either using shadow tolls (these are being phased out) or real tolls, and plans are in hand to make routes multi free-fl
    Read More
  • Foreign investors eye expansion into Russian road-building industry
    March 18, 2016
    The Russian road sector looks set for international investment - Eugene Gerden writes Amid the ongoing recovery of the Russian economy from the effect of Western sanctions, foreign investors are considering accelerating their activities in the Russian road building industry. In recent months the establishment of joint ventures with local road building companies has become no longer as profitable for foreign investors as it was in the past. As a result the majority of foreign investors are considering
    Read More
  • Improved airport for Thimarafushi atoll
    August 29, 2014
    Thimarafushi forms part of the Thaa Atoll lying in the Indian Ocean but access has been limited in the past. However the construction of a new airport planned by the Maldives Government will help develop the tourist trade, boosting the local economy. Most visitors previously used the country’s two international airports, using these as hubs for flights to the country’s six domestic airports. This has limited travel to only a few of the country’s 1,192 islands, of which around 200 are inhabited. As a result,
    Read More
  • Five consortia interested in Romania’s Pitesti-Craiova highway project
    May 10, 2013
    The Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has revealed that five consortia have entered bids to land the contract for the construction of the €2.08 billion (RON 9bn) 121km Pitesti-Craiova highway. The deadline for the submission of bids was 8 May 2013. Offers were submitted by a consortium formed by Romanian companies such as Spedition UMB, Tehnostrade and Vectra Service. The other four consortia that filed bids are: Obrascon Huarte Lain/OHL ZS (Spain), China Communications Construction Company/Dogus Insaat
    Read More

Highlighted Content