The Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) has chosen
to locate near TriNoma (the Ayala-owned Triangle North of Manila mall)
the common station it plans to build that will link the three train
lines in Metro Manila.
Joseph Emilio Abaya, transport secretary said the government will
return to SM Prime Holdings Inc. the P200 million it paid to Light Rail
Transit Authority (LRTA) for the “naming rights” of the common station
on the premise that it would be located near SM North, Abaya said. It is
a “naming rights” not “ location rights” Abaya said.
The government has allotted over P1.6 billion for the common station
that will connect the existing Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT 3), the
Light Rail Transit Line 1, and the proposed MRT 7 project.
LRT 1 runs from Baclaran to Roosevelt in Quezon City, while the MRT 3
runs from North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City.
The planned MRT 7 will begin at Tala, Caloocan City, passing through Lagro and Fairview, Novaliches, Batasan, Diliman, Philcoa,
before ending at Edsa corner North Avenue. The railway will serve an
estimated two million commuters in the northern parts of Quezon and
Caloocan cities.
Joseph Emilio Abaya, transport secretary, told reporters yesterday
that DOTC is now looking at two options to complete the project faster:
either the government will do it or tack it into the LRT 1 extension
project.
Abaya said it will be cheaper to build a common station near TriNoma than at the SM North Edsa mall where LRT 1 extension ends.
SM Prime Holdings Inc. has paid P200 million to Light Rail Transit
Authority (LRTA) for the “naming rights” of the common station on the
premise that it would be located near SM North, Abaya said.
Another major priority for the DOTC is the development of metro rail
lines, including the LRT Line 1 South Extension to Cavite, and the
Automatic Fare Collection System (AFCS). Both are being implemented
under the Public Private Partnership program of the government.
The Line 1 Cavite Extension is actually the biggest project, with a total cost of P60 billion.
Half of that will be subsidized by the government with a supply of
rail cars to be procured from Japan through Official Development
Assistance (ODA).
The other half will be the PPP component, wherein a winning bidder
will take over operation and management of the existing line while it
builds the 12-kilometer extension to the southern province of Cavite.
“We expect this to benefit a lot of people, especially those whose
source of livelihood is here in Manila but are forced to take a very
long commute everyday. Bidding for the project is ongoing, and we have
four proponents who will be submitting their proposals within the next
month or so,” Abaya said.
The AFCS on the other hand seeks to replicate the efficient ticketing
system of rail lines abroad, wherein riders use a contactless smart
card to access the train stations.
“We hope that once this P1.72 billion project is in place, we can
minimize the queuing in our train stations and increase passenger
convenience,” Abaya said .
Another DOTC project is the putting up of an extension for LRT 2 to
Masinag, Antipolo, which Abaya said is intended to give residents of
eastern sectors of Metro Manila “a more accessible route in the
metropolis.”
source: Malaya
Friday, May 31, 2013
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
PPP concerns raised
A STRING of credit rating upgrades will
attract more investments to the Philippines but the government’s
much-touted public private partnership (PPP) program may not be able to
keep up, consultancy GlobalSource Partners yesterday said.
With Standard & Poor’s following Fitch Ratings in raising the Philippines to investment grade, there will be a gradual pickup in investments, especially in public works, GlobalSource said.
"Our best-case scenario would see inflows channeled into productive investments in infrastructure and tradeable goods that create local jobs and sustain economic growth over the long term."
"Conversely, in the worst case, the economy would be ill-prepared to absorb the inflows which end up distorting investment decisions and creating asset bubbles that raise the economy’s vulnerability to external shocks...".
S&P raised the Philippines’ credit rating to BBB- last week, following an identical move by Fitch in March. Both moves took the country to investment grade -- a category where an economy is deemed to have "adequate capacity" to meet financial commitments.
With many investors required to tap only investment grade entities, the upgrades are expected to spark renewed interest in the Philippines and its companies.
However, GlobalSource said the country may have limited opportunities to offer with the Aquino administration’s centerpiece infrastructure development program continually hit by delays.
"Despite the flurry of activities, many well-informed observers continue to doubt that government can in fact proceed to bid out anytime soon some of the bigger projects..." it noted.
For deals that can be bid out, it added, questions remain on whether these can be completed by 2016 and whether the activity generated will contribute to economic growth.
The government has had to appease investors after "seemingly unending postponements of critical milestones" in the PPP program, which was launched with much fanfare in 2010.
Only two projects have been awarded so far: the P1.96-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway Link to Ayala Corp. and the P16.42-billion PPP School Infrastructure Project Phase One to the Citicore Holdings Investment, Inc.-Megawide Construction Corp., Inc. and BF Corp.-Riverbanks Development Corp. consortiums.
The P15.86-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Expressway Project, meanwhile, will formally awarded to Optimal Infrastructure Development, Inc., a unit of San Miguel Corp., this month.
"In the case of the NAIA Expressway, apart from the usual bottlenecks common in toll road projects (e.g., timely delivery of right of way) that can lead to delays, the perplexing bid results have doused some of our pre-bid enthusiasm for a likely PPP takeoff," GlobalSource noted.
San Miguel offered an upfront P11 billion on top of the project cost, almost double a P6-billion interest-free loan offered by the government. It was also well above the P305 million proposed by Manila North Tollways Corp.
"The numbers we have seen suggest that the project will be difficult to fund on a project finance basis and has analysts guessing what game plan San Miguel has in mind..." it said.
source: Businessworld
With Standard & Poor’s following Fitch Ratings in raising the Philippines to investment grade, there will be a gradual pickup in investments, especially in public works, GlobalSource said.
"Our best-case scenario would see inflows channeled into productive investments in infrastructure and tradeable goods that create local jobs and sustain economic growth over the long term."
"Conversely, in the worst case, the economy would be ill-prepared to absorb the inflows which end up distorting investment decisions and creating asset bubbles that raise the economy’s vulnerability to external shocks...".
S&P raised the Philippines’ credit rating to BBB- last week, following an identical move by Fitch in March. Both moves took the country to investment grade -- a category where an economy is deemed to have "adequate capacity" to meet financial commitments.
With many investors required to tap only investment grade entities, the upgrades are expected to spark renewed interest in the Philippines and its companies.
However, GlobalSource said the country may have limited opportunities to offer with the Aquino administration’s centerpiece infrastructure development program continually hit by delays.
"Despite the flurry of activities, many well-informed observers continue to doubt that government can in fact proceed to bid out anytime soon some of the bigger projects..." it noted.
For deals that can be bid out, it added, questions remain on whether these can be completed by 2016 and whether the activity generated will contribute to economic growth.
The government has had to appease investors after "seemingly unending postponements of critical milestones" in the PPP program, which was launched with much fanfare in 2010.
Only two projects have been awarded so far: the P1.96-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway Link to Ayala Corp. and the P16.42-billion PPP School Infrastructure Project Phase One to the Citicore Holdings Investment, Inc.-Megawide Construction Corp., Inc. and BF Corp.-Riverbanks Development Corp. consortiums.
The P15.86-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Expressway Project, meanwhile, will formally awarded to Optimal Infrastructure Development, Inc., a unit of San Miguel Corp., this month.
"In the case of the NAIA Expressway, apart from the usual bottlenecks common in toll road projects (e.g., timely delivery of right of way) that can lead to delays, the perplexing bid results have doused some of our pre-bid enthusiasm for a likely PPP takeoff," GlobalSource noted.
San Miguel offered an upfront P11 billion on top of the project cost, almost double a P6-billion interest-free loan offered by the government. It was also well above the P305 million proposed by Manila North Tollways Corp.
"The numbers we have seen suggest that the project will be difficult to fund on a project finance basis and has analysts guessing what game plan San Miguel has in mind..." it said.
source: Businessworld
A new meaning for PPPs? (1)
THE SIMPLEST IDEAS are sometimes the most
effective. Recently, the MMDA moved the Fort-bound U-turn under the
EDSA-Buendia flyover one slot forward, resulting in smoother traffic
transitions on the EDSA-Guadalupe-bound lane.
Meantime, the march of LEDs continues as TMC, the operator of the NLEx, has converted the lighting masts from the Balintawak to Balagtas segment to all LED, enhancing the highway’s all-weather safety. With road illumination now on par with China and Europe’s latest expressways, areas that still do not have road illumination, like the Balagtas to Sta. Rita segment where there is also no high concrete median barrier, should at least have median anti-glare barriers. For that matter, anti-glare barriers were once promised for the MATES-managed SLEx from Alabang to Sto. Tomas.
Even as the administration’s focus is sidelined by the elections, many line departments are continuing with the task of trying to fulfill the Noynoy Aquino’s dream of finishing his term as the PPP president. But despite the glowing reports on foreign investment and the hyper-optimism of local businessmen, the 2013 IMF country report states that our growth is still “non-inclusive”; i.e. in layman’s terms, the growth doesn’t translate to the masses, which has been lucidly explained by UP professor Benjamin Diokno. This is backstopped by the 2013 World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report where our country is at the bottom rung in terms of power, land, sea and air transportation. Could this be because of the snail’s pace of infrastructure since 2010?
Catching up on infrastructure in the busy metro, improvement of drainage, footbridges and lane alignments on the Quezon City segment of C-5 -- the only workable north-south alternative to EDSA -- are also in preparation when north-south traffic increases when Tandang Sora at Commonwealth is fully widened. The timing could only be prescient just as EDSA is to receive an end-to-end full asphalt overlay, plus the impending construction of the roller coaster skyway from Malibay to Roxas Boulevard on EDSA.
The government has all but awarded the NAIA Skyway Stage 2 to Entertainment City by the Bay PPP to San Miguel’s Optimal Infrastructure.
This is the second highway awarded under the program in the three years of the Aquino administration. Most of the bidding for the LRT and MRT related upgrades, meanwhile, have been postponed several times over.
Up north, the BCDA continues paying interest for the loan that built the SCTEx as the Palace hasn’t okayed the turnover of the SCTEx to Metro Pacific Tollways, which will take over debt servicing and integrate SCTEx operations and expenses as it runs the NLEx. Metro Pacific Tollways has submitted a 4th revised offer -- the contract, mind, was approved in 2009.
source: Businessworld Column of Not So Fast by Tito F. Hermoso
Meantime, the march of LEDs continues as TMC, the operator of the NLEx, has converted the lighting masts from the Balintawak to Balagtas segment to all LED, enhancing the highway’s all-weather safety. With road illumination now on par with China and Europe’s latest expressways, areas that still do not have road illumination, like the Balagtas to Sta. Rita segment where there is also no high concrete median barrier, should at least have median anti-glare barriers. For that matter, anti-glare barriers were once promised for the MATES-managed SLEx from Alabang to Sto. Tomas.
Even as the administration’s focus is sidelined by the elections, many line departments are continuing with the task of trying to fulfill the Noynoy Aquino’s dream of finishing his term as the PPP president. But despite the glowing reports on foreign investment and the hyper-optimism of local businessmen, the 2013 IMF country report states that our growth is still “non-inclusive”; i.e. in layman’s terms, the growth doesn’t translate to the masses, which has been lucidly explained by UP professor Benjamin Diokno. This is backstopped by the 2013 World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report where our country is at the bottom rung in terms of power, land, sea and air transportation. Could this be because of the snail’s pace of infrastructure since 2010?
Catching up on infrastructure in the busy metro, improvement of drainage, footbridges and lane alignments on the Quezon City segment of C-5 -- the only workable north-south alternative to EDSA -- are also in preparation when north-south traffic increases when Tandang Sora at Commonwealth is fully widened. The timing could only be prescient just as EDSA is to receive an end-to-end full asphalt overlay, plus the impending construction of the roller coaster skyway from Malibay to Roxas Boulevard on EDSA.
The government has all but awarded the NAIA Skyway Stage 2 to Entertainment City by the Bay PPP to San Miguel’s Optimal Infrastructure.
This is the second highway awarded under the program in the three years of the Aquino administration. Most of the bidding for the LRT and MRT related upgrades, meanwhile, have been postponed several times over.
Up north, the BCDA continues paying interest for the loan that built the SCTEx as the Palace hasn’t okayed the turnover of the SCTEx to Metro Pacific Tollways, which will take over debt servicing and integrate SCTEx operations and expenses as it runs the NLEx. Metro Pacific Tollways has submitted a 4th revised offer -- the contract, mind, was approved in 2009.
source: Businessworld Column of Not So Fast by Tito F. Hermoso
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