Gov’t to negotiate for gas stations at Subic-Clark-Tarlac tollway

THE BASES Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) will be negotiating with oil companies to put up service stations along the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, with the bidding process failing twice.

The short list of oil firms the BCDA will be negotiating with will likely include Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Total (Philippines) Corp., tollway manager for operations and maintenance Valiente R. Aquino said.

"The first bidding failed. No one officially expressed interest. The re-bidding failed again [on April 13]. The main cause we see for this is [the low] traffic volume," Mr. Aquino said in a telephone interview late last week.

Three service areas were up for bidding, data from the BCDA Web site show. These are a 17,180-square-meter site in Floridablanca, Pampanga, a 10,000-square-meter site in Concepcion, Tarlac and another 10,000-square-meter site also in Tarlac but for the south-bound lane.

The BCDA wanted a deal wherein the lease would cost at least 5% of the minimum value of the properties, appraised at P1,000 per square meter. Business World