Posted on February 16, 2015 10:37:00 PM
By Imee Charlee C. Delavin, Reporter
FIVE PUBLIC-private partnership (PPP) projects and one other infrastructure venture cumulatively worth P372.82 billion were approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board yesterday.
Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma, Jr. said in an e-mail to reporters that PPP projects that got the green light from the NEDA Board, chaired by President Benigno S.C. Aquino III, were the P24.303-billion expansion of Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx); P117.304-billion North-South Commuter Railway Project (NSCR) Phase I; P170.7-billion North-South Railway Project (NSRP) South Line; rebidding of the P35.43-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway Project with a minimum bid price of P20.105 billion; and the Swiss challenge of the P20-billion 8-kilometer North Luzon Expressway (NLEx)-South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) Connector Road, with rate of return increased to 9.93% from the current 8.64%.
The NSCR Project, targeted to be implemented from 2015 and operated for 35 years starting 2020, involves construction of a 36.7-km narrow-gauge elevated commuter railway from Malolos to Tutuban using the Philippine National Railways right-of-way with 10 stations and a depot at Valenzuela City. The project also includes procurement of rolling stock and installation of electro-mechanical systems.
The NSRP South Line — which will run mainly from Tutuban Station in Manila to Legazpi City in Albay — aims to rehabilitate the existing railway “to provide improved transport and logistics services to currently underserved areas and encourage more productive activities,” according to the PPP Center Web site. This project will also involve commuter railway operations between Tutuban and Calamba and long-haul railway operations between Tutuban and Legazpi. Furthermore, it will build branch lines from Calamba to Batangas, and from Legazpi to Matnog, Sorsogon.
The other project approved in the more-than-six-hour NEDA board meeting was the P5.087-billion Panguil Bay Bridge project of the Department of Public Works and Highways, which involves construction of a bridge across Panguil Bay connecting the City of Tangub in Misamis Occidental and the Municipality of Tubod in Lanao del Norte. This project, regarded as a high-priority development project in Mindanao, is targeted to be implemented from 2015 to 2018.
The Palace official added that funding for the approved projects will come from a combination of sources. “Some will be internally funded, some through loans, and some will have private equity funding,” Mr. Coloma said.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said in a statement “most of these projects aim to have a more reliable and efficient transport infrastructure system to increase investment in connective infrastructure.”
“These projects will support the government’s goal of increasing infrastructure spending to at least 5.1 percent in 2016. We hope that they will be implemented efficiently and effectively,” he added.
With approval by the NEDA Board, Mr. Coloma said these projects can now proceed to rollout stage — involving publication of invitations to prospective bidders — adding that the President also yesterday “directed the Cabinet and the NEDA members to focus on completing similar ongoing projects.”
The other proposed PPP projects that were scheduled to be taken up yesterday — the P378.33-billion Makati-Pasay-Taguig Mass Transit System Loop Project; P13.33-billion Motor Vehicle Inspection System Project; and P1.16-billion Civil Registry System-Information Technology Project Phase II — will be discussed in the next NEDA Board meeting, whose date has yet to be set, Mr. Coloma said.
Nine PPP deals have been awarded since the 2010 launch of this program: P2.5-billion Integrated Transport System-Southwest Terminal project; P17.52-billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport Project; P64.9-billion LRT Line 1 Cavite Extension; P1.72-billion Automatic Fare Collection System; P2.01-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway Link Road; P15.52-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway; P16.28-billion first phase of the PPP for School Infrastructure Project (PSIP); PSIP’s P3.86-billion second phase; and P5.69-billion Philippine Orthopedic Center modernization.
Source: http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=TopStory&title=infrastructure-projects-get-green-light&id=102836
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