GMR-Megawide asked to comply with issues raised by NEDA-ICC for NAIA rehab plan

Megawide Construction Corp. and its consortium partner Bangalore-based GMA Infrastructure Ltd. were asked to comply with certain requirements of the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) law, raised by the National Economic and Development Authority-Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC), to move forward with its unsolicited proposal to rehabilitate and operate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

This was disclosed by Transportation Undersecretary for Planning & Project Development Ruben Reinoso Jr. on Thursday.

“There was a deliberation yesterday and the [NEDA-]ICC Technical Board noted a number of pending compliance with certain requirements of the BOT law, so we have conveyed that to the proponent and we asked them to comply,” Reinoso said at a virtual press briefing.

The Transportation official said GMR-Megawide was asked to address issues on “financial capacity and the joint and solidary liability agreement of the consortium” so that the negotiations for the NAIA rehab project can proceed.

GMR-Megawide was granted original proponent status (OPS) in July, two years after it submitted its $3-billon proposal to rehabilitate the country’s premier gateway.

The granting of OPS to GMR-Megawide came after negotiations between the so-called NAIA Consortium and the government collapsed when the Manila International Airport Authority withdrew the preferential status from the consortium.

The NAIA Consortium, composed of AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Alliance Global Group Inc., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Filinvest Development Corp., and JG Summit Holdings Inc., announced in separate disclosures that the government scrapped proposed changes that would "ensure the bankability of the NAIA project."

Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp. was also part of the consortium until it pulled out in March.

Now that the “super consortium” is out of the picture, the government is now looking into GMR-Megawide’s proposal, which was submitted in March 2018 but was set aside in favor of NAIA Consortium.

Asked when the Swiss Challenge - a procurement process in which the original proponent’s project will be challenged by other parties interested in executing the plan through public bidding - can happen, MIAA Assistant General Manager Elenita Fernando said that “as to the timeline, hindi pa po namin masasabi ang definite time.”

“Mga next week siguro magkakaroon kami ng pulong ulit. Babalik po kami doon sa OPS sa proponent para po i-discuss ang mga outstanding issues that came up yesterday,” Fernando said.

GMA News Online has reached out to GMR-Megawide for comment on the matter, but no response has been received as of this posting.

In its proposal, GMR-Megawide plans to construct full-length parallel taxiways for both of NAIA's runways, construct an additional rapid-exit taxiways for the primary runway, extend the secondary runway, and  provide the maximum number of aircraft stands.

The consortium said the solutions will increase airfield capacity to 950 to 1,000 aircraft movements per day, a 30-35 percent increase from the current 730 aircraft a day.

For peak hours, the consortium will increase NAIA’s aircraft handling capacity by 50 percent, from 40 to 60%.

Within 24 months of taking over operations, the consortium also plans to rehabilitate and expand the existing terminals, which will roughly double the space and result in over 700,000 square meters of terminal area, according to GMR-Megawide.

Once completed, both the airside facilities and the terminals shall be able to handle a total annual throughput of 72 million passengers.

It also proposed an 18-year concession term for the NAIA.

GMR-Megawide is the consortium that bagged the maintenance, operation, and rehabilitation of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) - the country's second largest airport. -MDM, GMA News