PPA says unsolicited proposal for Port of General Santos still under review

THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said it is still reviewing the unsolicited proposal by a Davao-based private terminal operator to rehabilitate the Port of General Santos.

“In terms of GenSan, we’re still sorting out ’yung sa engineering also. Because what we want to happen is… make sure na ’yung proposal ng mga proponents [the proposals of the proponents] will be compliant with the (PPA’s) long-term development plan,” PPA General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago told reporters in a Mar. 15 chance interview.

Last year, Mr. Santiago said Kudos Trucking Corp. submitted to the PPA an unsolicited proposal to rehabilitate and improve the General Santos Port and add new equipment such as cranes.

“Pag na-submit ’yung engineering, and convinced ’yung engineering group namin doon sa feasibility nung design at compliance nung design sa development plan ng PPA, [Once they submit the engineering, and our engineering group is convinced with the feasibility of the design and its compliance to the development plan of the PPA], then we can now proceed to evaluating it for original proponent status (OPS),” he said, noting they don’t have a target timeline for awarding OPS until Kudos Trucking submits its revised engineering plan.

The PPA is currently reviewing two unsolicited proposals from private groups for government-owned ports, the other being Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp.’s P11.2-billion plan for the Sasa Port in Davao.

Aside from the two, International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) also submitted last year a letter of intent to the PPA to modernize, operate and maintain the Iloilo Port Complex and the Port of Dumangas in Iloilo.

Mr. Santiago said they are still waiting for the company to submit the financial, technical and legal provisions of its proposal.

“Nag-submit sila ng letter of intent for Iloilo [They gave a letter of intent for Iloilo], but they have yet to submit the meat of the proposal,” he said.

The Razon-led port operator disclosed to the stock exchange last year it is investing P5 billion for the project. — Denise A. Valdez

_{Source: bworldonline.com}