Megawide targets more Manila subway contracts

MEGAWIDE Construction Corp. is looking to bid for more segments of the Japan-funded Metro Manila Subway Project, the company’s top official said.

“We are still aiming for one more project, which will be [offered by the government] by next year,” Megawide Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President Edgar B. Saavedra told reporters at a recent gathering.

He was referring to the contract package that covers the Shaw Boulevard-Bonifacio Global City segment of the 36-kilometer underground railway that will run from Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay.

The package involves building a station and a tunnel line, he added.

“We are considering around one or two [more packages after that],” Mr. Saavedra said.

The company and its joint venture partners from Japan, Tokyu Construction Co., Ltd. and Tobishima Corp., signed in May this year the contract package 104 of the subway project.

The package covers the construction of underground stations in Ortigas North and South as well as the tunnels connecting these two locations.

“The project has a contract value of P13.26 billion and JPY11.23 billion (approximately P4.49 billion), which together will have an aggregate estimated value of P17.75 billion,” the company said in a statement.

Tokyu Construction is engaged in commercial, institutional, and residential buildings as well as civil engineering works for dams, bridges, and transportation systems, while Tobishima is involved in large-scale civil engineering works for hydro-electric power plants, dams, and railroads, with onshore and offshore projects located in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Myanmar, among others.

Mr. Saavedra said Megawide hopes to work with its Japanese partners on other packages.

Megawide and its joint venture partners Dong Ah and Hyundai Engineering of South Korea also bagged the contract for package 1 of the Malolos Clark Railway Project in 2020.

Megawide and its partner India’s GMR Airports International BV are selling their stakes in the Mactan Cebu International Airport.

“In the medium-term, we are seriously looking at diversifying into other exciting and high-growth infrastructure platforms, where we can leverage our engineering and construction expertise,” Mr. Saavedra said.

“At the end of the day, we believe it is the further value creation, which the transaction unlocks, that makes it very rewarding and exciting, and something to look forward to,” he added. — Arjay L. Balinbin