Delayed implementation of E-Trikes project costs gov’t

Over 194 million went down the drain as a result of the failure of the government, especially the previous administration, to implement on time the E-Trikes Project being funded through a 117.98-billion loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The Commission on Audit (COA) made this disclosure as it chided the Department of Energy for its “ineffective” implementation of the 1992-million Household Electrification Program (HEP) that was aimed at energizing 90 percent of the country’s total households.

In the recently released 2017 annual audit report for DOE, COA also lamented the failure of the agency to “operationalize” the ADB-funded Lamp Waste Management Facility (LWMF) worth 175,334,943.

State auditors said that after being installed and commissioned in December, 2013, the DOE failed to identify the operator of the LWMF, thus resulting “in the forfeiture of benefits that can be derived from reduced hazardous wastes and wastage of government funds.”

The Introduction of Energy Efficient Electric Vehicles Project (E-Trikes) cost government some 1 94.029 million in commitment charges and management fees that the ADB imposed as a result of the delayed implementation of the project.

E-Trikes, initiated by the Aquino administration in 2013, was intended to deploy 100,000 quality locally-made electric tricycle units in order to reduce the transport sector’s annual petroleum consumption by 2.8 percent and reduce 79 percent emission that cause pollution.

The ADB funded the project by making available a 1 17.98-billion loan.

According to COA, the sudden rise in the cost of E-Trikes, from 1250,000 to 1455,000, together with DOE’s failure to identify participating local government units, triggered trouble in the implementation of the project.

“As of December 31, 2017, the completion date of the project, not a single E-Trike has been delivered to the intended beneficiaries, hence, the expected project outputs and benefits that may have been derived therefrom were not attained,” COA revealed.

Making matters worst for the Philippine government is the imposition by ADB of commitment charges and management fees totaling 194.029 million due to the low availment of the loans.

Reacting to the audit observation, the DOE management said its team assigned to implement the project “plans to expedite the deployment of the E-trikes in Region IV. The DOE also proposed an extension of the expiration of the Loan and Grant Agreements from June, 2018 to May, 2019.

In the value for money audit, COA also observed that the HEP funded through a 1 992.65-million budget from 2011 to 2017 “was not efficiently and effectively implemented due to the absence of clear and adequate implementation guidelines.”

According to COA, the project has suffered various controversies, including the delay in the implementation, ranging from three to 1,305 days and the “irregular, unnecessary, and excessive expenditures totaling