LGUs’ ineligibility delays e-trike project

A “STRINGENT” requirement for local government units (LGUs) has been delaying the awarding of the contract to supply and deliver the first 3,000 units of electric tricycles (e-trikes), a Cabinet official said.

“The awarding is on hold because there are no off-takers. Actually, there are some who want, but when Land Bank [of the Philippines] laid out the condition, a lot of the LGUs did not qualify, especially in the seal of good housekeeping,” Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla said in a recent interview.

The seal of good housekeeping is given by the Department of Interior and Local Government to recognize LGUs’ good performance in terms of planning, fiscal management, transparency and accountability, and valuing of performance information.

“Some of the LGUs have good finances, but they don’t have the seal of good housekeeping,” Mr. Petilla said.

“We are now asking Secretary [Cesar V. Purisima] of Finance to relax on the requirements. If we take out the stringent requirement, then there will be more qualified LGUs to participate in the program,” he added.

With the current scenario, Mr. Petilla said, the government may not be able to meet the target to award 15,000 e-trikes this year.

“We hope to resolve this immediately. Otherwise, the project cannot move. I’m looking at maximum 3,000 e-trikes this year, minimum 500 [units],” said Mr. Petilla.

Four foreign companies participated in the auction to supply the first 3,000 units in August last year: Lirica Rising Sun & Shoyo-Terra Group (from Japan); Uzushio Electric Co. Ltd. (Japan); Eco One Co. (Korea); and Teco Electric & Machinery Co. Ltd. (Taiwan).

Upon securing a no-objection letter from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the department aimed to award the contract within the first quarter.

The e-trikes were supposed to be deployed in Luzon. Specifically, 2,000 units were allotted for National Capital Region (NCR) and 1,000 units for Regions IV-A (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) and IV-B (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan).

The e-trike project -- a joint undertaking of the ADB and the DoE -- aims to replace some 100,000 tricycles that run on gasoline by 2017.

The ADB allotted a $300-million funding for the $504-million project. The government will shell out the remaining $99 million, and the Clean Technology Fund, $105 million.

These e-trikes will be deployed to various LGUs under a five-year rent-to-own scheme. After that, the tricycle drivers will already own the units.

source:  Businessworld