Cavite gives fresh 90-day extension for Sangley Airport proponents to comply with post-qualification requirements

The provincial government of Cavite has given more time for the consortium of Lucio Tan’s MacroAsia Corp. and China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. (CCCC) to comply with their post-qualification requirements for the Sangley Point International Airport project.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, MacroAsia said it has received through email the response letter of the Cavite provincial government on its submission of required documents and request for the extension on the Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA) project.

The company said the Cavite government’s letter states that:

“We acknowledge receipt of your submission in partial compliance with the conditions set forth in the Notice of Selection and Award (NOA) dated 12 February 2020 for the Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA) Project (i.e., newly and fully authenticated copy of the submitted JV Proposal)."

“Similar to previous submissions, we will confirm the acceptability of the said documents after the consortium's full compliance with the prescribed requirements and our complete review."

“Considering the continuing adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the exigency of the service, we grant your request for extension of ninety (90) days immediately after commercial air travel resumes between the Philippines and China to comply with all the conditions of the NOA."

“Please note that this additional extension is granted subject to the firm commitment of the Consortium to fully comply with the requirements on or before the new deadline.”

In June, MacroAsia and CCCC were given 90 days to complete their submission of post-qualification requirements for the Sangley Airport project due to logistical constraints caused by pandemic quarantine restrictions locally and overseas.

The companies were awarded the P208.5-billion contract to develop the Sangley Airport into an international gateway in February.

The Sangley International Airport project is a joint venture between the private sector and the Cavite provincial government. In such a set-up, the project does not need to secure the approval of other government agencies such as the National Economic and Development Authority.

The private partner will build the airport and the facilities, while the provincial government will reclaim and lease the land to the winning bidder.

Once the Joint Venture Development Agreement (JVDA) is signed, MacroAsia said it will take 12 to 18 months for the consortium to complete the detailed engineering design.

The expanded Sangley Airport will have four runways and will be able to accommodate up to 100 million passengers a year.

The project’s first phase involves the construction of a runway, connector road, and bridge to the Kawit segment of the CAVITEx.

The Cavite provincial government plans to have the Sangley International Airport partially operational by 2022, with full operations eyed in 2023.

The Palace had given the go-ahead for the project despite the United States' imposition of sanctions against Chinese firms associated with the building of artificial islands in the South China Sea, including several subsidiaries of CCCC.—AOL, GMA News