Common station budget hike approved
THE National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) through its Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee (ICC-CC) on Tuesday approved the revisions to the cost of two transport projects, the shift of financing of an irrigation project and a dam project as well as a cost threshold for projects under review.
According to NEDA Deputy DirectorGeneral Rolando G. Tungpalan, the ICC-CC had “deemed (the approval of projects) urgent — if not long overdue.”
The LRT Line 1 North Extension Project-Common Station or the Unified Grand Central Station ( North Extension Project) now costs P2.8 billion from P2.6 billion in 2009, which includes the P1.4 billion in the Department of Transportation’s (DoTr’s) 2017 budget.
Revisions to the project include dual tracks for LRT-1, MRT- 3 and MRT-7 as well as a total concourse of 13,700 square meters (sqm) compared to 7,200 sqm originally planned in 2009.
According to NEDA, the project is targeted to be completed by April 2019 “assuming there will be no needless further delays.”
Also approved during the ICC-CC meeting was the proposed loan extension of two and a half years and a fund reallocation of P570.38 million for the new Communications, Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) Systems Development Project.
The project will reallocate P570.38 million to construction and procurement, consulting services, administration costs, VAT, and duties and taxes from the local counterpart contingency.
The Chico River Pump Irrigation Project will no longer be funded by the national government and will instead be funded through foreign aid or Official Development Assistance (ODA).
Meanwhile, both the New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project and the North- South Railway Project-South Line, which were approved by the NEDA Board in September 2015 and February 2016, respectively, will now be funded by ODA instead of seeking a public-private partnership mode of procurement.
New projects which will go through ICC-CC review and approval will now have to cost at least P2.5 billion.
However, projects below the P2.5 billion threshold will still need certification as this is needed to make certain that the project is consistent with the government’s plan.
The ICC- CC also approved 55 flagship projects worth P1.2 trillion targeted to be rolled out during the Duterte administration.
Disclosure of the flagship projects will be made after the list is presented to the President in April. —