THE Cavite province has given MacroAsia Corp. and its Chinese partner another 90 days to complete their requirements for the $10-billion Sangley Point International Airport project.
Lucio C. Tan-led MacroAsia and its partner China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. (CCCC) had missed the Sept. 9 deadline set by the Cavite government for the submission of all the required post-qualification documents for the airport project.
“The consortium was able to make partial submission of documents as required by Notice of Award. However, considering the continuing adverse impact of Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) and in the exigency of service, the request for extension of 90 days immediately after air travel resumes between China and the Philippines to comply with all the conditions of the Notice of Award is granted,” Cavite’s Public-Private Partnership Selection Committee Legal Officer Jesse R. Grepo said in a mobile phone message on Thursday.
“Note that the said extension is granted subject to the firm commitment of the consortium to fully comply with the requirements on or before the new deadline,” he added.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange, MacroAsia said among the documents it had already submitted was the “newly and fully authenticated copy” of the joint venture proposal.
The post-qualification documents were supposed to be completed and submitted 60 days after the group received the notice of award on Feb. 14.
Cavite had initially given the consortium until the second week of June to process and submit the documents before a joint venture development agreement could be signed.
The groundbreaking for the first phase of the airport project was initially expected to take place in the second quarter of the year.
The airport is expected to be fully operational by 2023, with partial operations to start a year earlier. — Arjay L. Balinbin
