THE DEPARTMENT of Transportation is inviting groups to bid for the construction of the Malolos-Clark segment of the P777.55-billion North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project.
In a bulletin published in a newspaper on Saturday, the department said it has set the pre-bid conference on March 7 and the deadline for submission and opening of bids on May 10.
The contract consists of three packages: the first one for engineering works of the railway viaduct, four balanced cantilever bridges and two elevated stations; the second for railway viaduct, one extradosed bridge, two balanced cantilever bridges and one elevated station; and the third for railway viaduct, four balanced cantilever bridges and two elevated stations.
Interested parties may procure hard copies of bid documents per package for P50,000.
The train line from Malolos, Bulacan to Clark, Pampanga will be financed by a $2.75-billion loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The open competitive bidding will adhere to ADB’s Procurement Policy, which requires bidders to come from any of ADB’s 67 member countries.
Qualified bidders are likewise required to have an average annual construction turnover of more than $1 billion per package, minimum available financial resources of $60 million per package and submit a bid security of $12 million per package. It must also have completed a project worth more than $500 million in the past 10 years.
The Malolos-Clark railway forms part of the P777.55 billion NSCR project, which consists of the 56-kilometer line from Calamba, Laguna to Tutuban in Manila, the 38-kilometer segment from Tutuban to Malolos, Bulacan and the 53-kilometer portion from Malolos to Clark, Pampanga.
Last year, the DoTr auctioned off the contract for the Malolos-Tutuban line of the NSCR, where Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co., Ltd. won the contract. It broke ground on Feb. 15. — Denise A. Valdez

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR