PUBLIC-PRIVATE Partnership (PPP) Center Executive Director Cosette V. Canilao underscored the need for a standardized set of guidelines in order to consistently establish criteria when water districts and local government units (LGUs) select private partners for infrastructure projects.
Such guidelines, she said, will “facilitate consistency in establishing the technical, financial and operational criteria” for water PPP deals.
Hence, the PPP Center and the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) jointly initiated a memorandum of understanding (MOU) among government agencies to harmonize interventions by various PPP institutions and to reconcile processes and requirements for PPP initiatives in the water sector.
Among those who were covered by the MOU are the Local Water Utilities Administration; National Water Resources Board; Philippine Associate of Water Districts; the Department of the Interior and Local Government; and the PPP Center.
Under the MOU, a PPP Technical Working Group composed of said agencies will work together for a focused set of training, technical assistance, as well as policy process guidance to water districts and LGUs pursuing PPPs in the water and sanitation sector.
“This will ensure a level playing field for prospective private partners,” Canilao said.
She added that the agencies covered by the MOU acknowledged that they needed help in navigating through viable and legally appropriate PPP options for the water and sanitation sector, and how the pact will serve as the appropriate platform for their shared objective of having water districts and LGUs pursue properly structured and competitively procured PPP projects.
The memorandum is part of the PPP Center’s mandate to initiate PPP policy and process reforms, as well as the provision of technical assistance and capacity building to implementing agencies.
It is currently assisting a few local water projects, such as the Baggao Water Supply PPP Project, which is now in the procurement stage for a private partner.
At the national level, its pipeline includes the Bulacan Bulk Water Supply Project and the New Centennial Water Source (Kaliwa Dam) Project, both also under procurement stages.
The government has awarded 10 contracts since it launched the PPP Program in late 2010, namely:
- The P2.2-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway project bagged by Ayala Corp. in 2011;
- The P16.42-billion first phase of the PPP School Infrastructure Program (PSIP), which went in 2012 to the consortium formed by Megawide Construction Corp. and Citicore Holdings Investment Inc., as well as the BF Corp.-Riverbanks Development Corp. Consortium;
- The P15.68-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport expressway, given to San Miguel Corp. unit Vertex Tollways Development Inc. in 2013; and
- The P3.86-billion PSIP Phase II contract, partially awarded in 2013 to Megawide and the BSP & Co., Inc.-Vicente T. Lao Construction consortium;
- The P5.69-billion Modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center project that went to the Megawide-World Citi Inc. consortium also in 2013.
- The P1.72-billion Automatic Fare Collection System contract awarded to the AF Consortium of Ayala and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) in 2014;
- The P17.5-billion Mactan Cebu International Airport New Passenger Terminal project bagged in 2014 by Megawide Construction Corp. and GMR Infrastructures Ltd.;
- The P64.9-billion Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite Extension deal, awarded in 2014 to Light Rail Manila Consortium of Ayala and MPIC;
- The P2.5-billion Integrated Transport System Southwest Terminal, won by Megawide and partner Walter Mart Property Management Inc. of billionaire and retail magnate Henry Sy in January; and
- The P35.42-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway bagged by MPCALA Holdings Inc. of MPIC in June.
It intends to plug the gap in the country’s transportation facility in the next decade by rolling out massive infrastructure projects that are seen to spur economic growth.
source: Business Mirror
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