Six firms vie for Poro Point master plan contract

Six firms are vying for the contract to develop a master plan for the 146-hectare Poro Point Freeport Zone, the Bases Conversion and Development Corp. (BCDA) said in a statement Monday. Poro Point is located in San Fernando, La Union The six firms hoping to win the P8-million project are the joint venture between the U.P. Planades and Philippine Jac, Inc.; Schema Konsult, Inc.; the joint venture of CPRM Consultants, Inc. and Transport & Traffic Planners, Inc.; the joint venture of Filipinas Dravo Corp. and Key Engineers, Co.; Philipps Technical Consultants Corp.; and Palafox Associates. Eligibility documents were submitted on February 25. The BCDA will have determined the qualified bidders by March 6 with the actual bidding to be made “sometime this month.” The master plan will have to consider the existing recreation and resort facilities and the San Fernando airport and seaport. The master plan must have provisions for the improvement and upgrade of the airport as well as develop a terminal shopping mall. “The airport and seaport make the Poro Point Freeport Zone an ideal tourist and business destination in Northern Luzon where passengers and goods can be transported by the convenience of air and sea travel aside from land,” said BCDA President Arnel Paciano D. Casanova in the statement. Currently, no airlines serve the San Fernando airport, which was previously a U.S. Air Force base called Wallace Air Station. — DVM, GMA News