Philippine Star, 13 February 2013
MANILA, Philippins – The Department of Education said on Wednesday that the construction of over 9,000 classrooms under its Public-Private Partnership for School Infrastructure Project will start this month.
The Deped said project proponents representing two private companies assured Education Secretary Armin Luistro that classrooms will soon be built in Regions 1, 3 and 4A – areas identified under the agreement.
The BF Corp. Consortium officials reported that they have already started the fabrication of the steel panels that would be used for the construction 2,157 classrooms in Region I.
Meanwhile, the Megawide Consortium, contracted to design, construct and maintain 2,885 classrooms in Region III and 4,259 classrooms in Region IV-A, said that it has organized and trained 69 construction teams, which will undertake construction works simultaneously for the project.
“The main task is for everyone to work together as a team and deliver based on the specifications, or even better than expected,” Luistro said.
Under the PSIP, DepEd taps the private sector to invest in the design, construction and maintenance of classrooms with toilets and seats using its resources and technology, consistent with the minimum performance requirements set by the department.
The construction, maintenance, and lease of school buildings is under a Build-Lease-and-Transfer contractual arrangement.
Luistro reiterated the importance of transparency, noting an inter-agency committee has been formed to undertake the bidding and procurement of 10,679 classrooms in 14 regions under the second phase of the PPP- SIP.- Dennis Carcamo
