Meralco not selected final bidder yet, MiDA boss clarifies

The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) says though the bidding process for the concession of a percentage of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has come to a conclusion, Meralco Consortium is not the final bidder selected.

“[We] have selected a preferred bidder and the bidder’s documentation together with all its financials are now looked at and if they are in place, the bidder is invited to come for negotiations.”

Speaking to Media General’s Etornam Sey on Friday, Martin Eson-Benjamin stressed: “The negotiations are what will define the relationship we want to have with the bidder and then be able to have a contract.”

Meralco Consortium, of the Philippines, was on Thursday announced as the winning bidder for the management of a percentage of ECG. They will partner a Ghanaian-owned company.

The erstwhile Manila Electric Railway and Light Company (MERALCO) was named winner at the expense of BXC in a process the Public Utility Workers’ Union (PUWU) finds “not transparent”.

Meralco Consortium was determined to have the highest combined technical and financial score with a total investment of $500 million.

“Certainly, I will say the investment they are going to make will not even end there,” Mr Eson-Benjamin assured.

“As they go along working for 20 years, they will be assessed in the process of assessment.

“If they have done what is right, they will continue to run the business.”

He indicated that Meralco might begin operations in February, 2019 after the conclusion of all negotiations.