ICTSI not keen on Davao Sasa seaport project

MANILA, Philippines – The International Container Terminal Services Incorporated (ICTSI) is not keen on bidding for the Davao Sasa seaport project.

ICTSI Chairman Enrique Razon Jr said they are lukewarm to the proposed P17-billion ($384.01 million) first seaport public-private partnership (PPP) project of the Aquino administration.

He said they already have several private ports in Davao. “So we may not bid for that,” Razon said.

Razon explained that it would be difficult to recover the required investment considering the presence of several competing private ports in Davao.

“Defensive move is not for P17 billion ($384.01 million). That’s not a defensive move anymore. I doubt you can recover that type of investment in Davao,” he said.

He earlier said that his company is looking at ports in Kenya, Mombasa and Cameroon. He added that they participated in a bid for Cameroon pending results, while a bid is in the offing for the Kenya, Mombasa port.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) rolled out the modernization and operation and maintenance (O&M) project of the Davao Sasa port.

The government tapped the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank (WB), as well as the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), to act as the transaction advisers for the bidding to be conducted in accordance with the two-stage system, Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law.

The port, also known as the Sasa wharf, is expected to improve trade access with other harbors. It’s an important hub in the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).

The winning bidder will operate and maintain the Davao Sasa port for a period of 30 years. – Rappler.com


$1 = P44.27