The main entrance of the Negros Occidental Provincial Administration Center in Bacolod City. (Photo by Nanette L. Guadalquiver)
BACOLOD CITY -- Negros Occidental’s provincial government is seeking participants to join the “Swiss challenge” on the proposal of Dynamic Builders and Construction Company to develop a Capitol property here.
“This will now be put to a challenge by an interested party who will have to match or outbid the unsolicited offer of Dynamic Builders,” Vice Governor Eugenio Lacson said on Monday.
The Bacolod-based contractor submitted an unsolicited proposal to lease the 6,485-square meter portion of the Provincial Administration Center property located across the North Capitol Road side of the Capitol building.
Dynamic Builders offered to lease the property for 50 years at a rate of PHP78 per square meter per month, with an increase of 10 percent every five years.
The plan is to develop the area into a PHP1.4-billion Capitol Commercial Center, a mix-use nine-storey structure that will include a hotel, a shopping mall, and a business process outsourcing facility.
The proposed development is considered the first-ever public-private partnership in the province (P4) project.
Last Wednesday, the Provincial Board approved the endorsement of Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. requesting for approval of the Joint Certificate of Successful Negotiations and Terms of Reference based on terms and conditions agreed in the negotiations between the P4 Selection Committee and original proponent Dynamic Builders and Construction Company.
Second District Board Member Salvador Escalante Jr., who chairs the committee on appropriations, budget and finance, said the unsolicited proposal of Dynamic Builders will be officially announced during the public consultation on Wednesday.
Under the P4 ordinance, the selection committee is mandated to negotiate with the original proponent about the price, terms, and other necessary agreements that need to be incorporated in the contract.
“All of these will be published on Thursday, a day after the public consultation,” Escalante said, adding that the challengers will be given at least two weeks from July 19 to submit their respective proposals.
Lacson said he believes the negotiations would not last more than two months because the governor himself wants the project to push through. (PNA)
