THE lowest bidder for the P978-million project to improve the Marcos Highway in Marikina will get the contract once it satisfies the requirements of the Public Works Department, an official said yesterday.

?If there is anything lacking, then we go to the next lowest bidder and so on,? Public Works Undersecretary Romeo Momo said.

China?s Hunan Road and Bridge Corp. had entered the lowest bid for the project, which is aimed at upgrading the 4.7-km, 8-lane highway.

Momo said Hunan, a state-run company, offered a bid that was 22 percent below the approved budget for the project, and it was the first time it had won a contract with the Philippine government.

?We will check why the bid was low because we are very cautious of very low bids,? Momo said.

?We had other firms submitting very low bids before, but they failed to complete the project.?

Six contractors bid for the project, but Hunan won it by offering P969.554 million. Joel E. Zurbano