Bidding for decomissioned power plant fails again

The bidding for the retired Manila Thermal Power Plant failed anew after the bids submitted by two foreign firms did not pass standards set by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. The deadline for offers for the facility was noon of Wednesday. This is the third time the government has attempted to sell the asset. The first two auctions, scheduled between 2005 and 2007, failed because of lack of investor interest. In a statement released Thursday, PSALM said the bid of JC Ethanol and Metal Trading Corp., a South Korea-based company, was rated "failed" by the PSALM privatization, bids and awards committee, thus preventing it from further participating in the bidding exercise. The offer of Gagasan Steel Inc., an affiliate of Malaysia-based Gagasan Steel Sdn Berhad, on the other hand, did not meet the reserve price set by the PBAC PSALM president Jose Ibazeta said the result of the MTPP bidding would be relayed to the PBAC members who would then make the recommendation to the PSALM Board on the subsequent actions to be taken. - GMANews.TV