Wednesday, December 16, 2020

NEDA chief denies role in stripping Megawide of NAIA rehab project

Metro Manila: The National Economic and Development Authority says it did not have a role in stripping Megawide Construction of the ₱109-billion plan to repair and upgrade the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

On Tuesday, the Manila International Airporty Authority revoked Megawide's original proponent status for the NAIA Rehabilitation project, a long-delayed plan for the country's biggest gateway.

"We have nothing to answer... The NEDA's job was to evaluate for the ICC (Investment Coordination Committee) approval process," Chua said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday.

"The grantor – in this case, MIAA – according to the BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) law should conduct its due diligence. The decision to grant the OPS is purely their decision," he added.

Megawide and its partner GMR Infrastructure of India, which also undertook the airport upgrades to the Clark International Airport and the Mactan Cebu International Airport, lost the priority status for the NAIA contract five months after the group was chosen to replace the consortium of the country's seven biggest conglomerates.

A document seen by CNN Philippines in November showed that Chua and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III returned the plan of Megawide-GMR to the Department of Transportation with an observation that the group appeared to be lacking funds to sustain the project.

In a letter dated Nov. 19, the Cabinet officials said Megawide's ₱18 billion equity as of end-2019 was just about half the ₱32.9 billion needed to support the NAIA project, putting into question the firm's financial capacity.

Megawide said a day later that it has submitted document proving it they can sustain the funding requirements to support the joint and solidary liability sought by NEDA and the Department of Finance.

"We only evaluate based on the submission," Chua said on Wednesday. "The decision is purely (with) the grantor or the implementing agency."

16/12/20 CNN Philippines

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