The government of Cavite province in the Philippines has relaunched tenders for the $10bn Sangley international airport project, less than a month after it cancelled its deal with Filipino company MacroAsia and China Communications Construction Company (CCCC).
In an announcement published on Monday, the government solicited bids for the 1,500ha airport, to be carried out as a joint venture between itself and the chosen project partner.
The invitation said bids were sought from firms able to provide equity investment and debt finance, as well as engineering, procurement and construction services.
Companies have until 30 March to send the government an expression of intent, along with a non-refundable $20,000 fee. The deadline for the submission of proposals will be 4 May. The government previously said it hopes to choose a partner by October.
The project involves land reclamation in Manila Bay, presently being undertaken by China Harbour Engineering Company, and the expansion of an existing airport. It will be the fourth commercial airport to serve the 14.4 million people in the Greater Manila Area, and will ease pressure on the over-capacity Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
In the aborted first tender, only MacroAsia and CCCC submitted a bid. Last month, however, Cavite governor Juanito Victor Remulla announced that the award had been withdrawn owing to “various deficiencies of the submission of requirements to conclude the joint venture agreement”.
Remulla told the Nikkei Asian Review at the time: “We gave them two extensions, but they failed to comply with three requirements, a lot of them documentary.”
The appointment of CCCC became controversial after it was named on a US State Department blacklist, owing partly to its work on disputed waters in the South China Sea (see further reading).
Image: A rendering of the Sangley Point airport, to be built on reclaimed land in Manila Bay (Sangley Airport)
