Regional airport construction to kick off in mid-2018
THE GOVERNMENT will start building the five unbundled regional airports employing its hybrid procurement method in mid-2018, if no unsolicited proposal from the private sector qualifies.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said that the government will kick off the airport projects using its own funds, as approved by the President, though it remains open to offers from the private sector.
“If you can do it cheaper and faster than us then we will consider your offer. They can give us an unsolicited proposal and we will entertain it. But they have to meet our speed and our cost ( benchmarks),” he told reporters last week.
The airports, the contracts for which the previous government intended to offer in a single bundle included the Davao, Laguindingan (Cagayan de Oro), New Bohol ( Panglao), Bacolod and Iloilo airports.
Mr. Dominguez said the benchmark for launching a project is 18 months, the start period for the Clark International Airport expansion — the first initiative for which the hybrid Public-Private Partnership (PPP) system was used.
The hybrid scheme is intended to do away with initial delays associated with deploying private capital, by having the government step in with its own funds or foreign aid early in the project’s life. Private firms can come in later to handle the operations and maintenance of each facility.
“Our target is what is the best and quickest deal for the government. In other words they are in competition with us now. We are a player now, the government itself is a player,” he said.
“So it’s not like before where the government said only the private sector will do it. We are now saying no, we are also a player because sometimes we can do it faster, we can do it cheaper,” he added.
Mr. Dominguez said that no firm has submitted a proposal for any of the five airports.
“For them this is a new mode. So they have to gear up also for this.”
Asked when the government plans to start construction of the airports, Mr. Dominguez said: “Sometime next year... probably in the middle.”
The airports were first offered in bundles in December 2014, before the new government decided to offer individual airports in November 2016, a move intended to improve the chances of smaller firms to win contracts.
Later however, the airports were removed from the PPP pipeline, for implementation through “other modes.”
The National Economic and Development Authority’s website indicates that these projects were initially planned for a construction start in 2017, ending in 2025.
The Finance department has said that unsolicited proposals should involve a new concept or new technology, for them to be considered by the government — though such proposals will still be subject to a Swiss Challenge.
It also said that it will do away with bid premiums in infrastructure contracts.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia has said that the private firms “just have to compete,” adding that there will be no subsidies of guarantees from the government. —