QUALITY school infrastructure greeted the students of around 9,296 classrooms in the regions of Ilocos, Central Luzon and Calabarzon this year, as the government and its private partners completed the first phase of their social infrastructure program last month.
This milestone also brings the number of completed public-private partnership (PPP) projects under the Aquino administration to three, making the government’s target of finishing five infrastructure facilities before President Aquino steps down from office this June more realistic.
Megawide Construction Corp., Citicorp Holdings Investment Inc. and Bright Future Educational Facilities Inc. took on the design, financing and construction of 9,296 one-story and two-story classrooms, including furniture and fixtures.
It took the private partners almost three years to complete the project, which is aimed at reducing the classroom backlog around the country. The new classroom facilities have started to benefit over 400,000 students in Luzon.
Data from the PPP Center showed that the second phase of the social infrastructure program is still a long way from being completed, with only 1,690 classrooms completed out of the 4,370-classroom target under the contract.
The same document dated December 17 showed that around 33.91 percent, or 1,482 classrooms, are undergoing construction, while 1,320 classrooms are still under preconstruction phases.
The project, which was awarded to the consortium of BSP & Co. Inc.-Vicente T. Lao Construction and Megawide in 2013, is expected to benefit the regions of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Northern Mindanao and Caraga.
Even at this phase, the government is still confident that it can meet its goal of completing five projects before the Aquino administration ends.
“We will meet the target of finishing five projects before our term ends,” PPP Center Executive Director Cosette V. Canilao said in an interview. “We still hope to award and sign 15 contracts, as we still have 13 projects currently under procurement. From the number, I think we can achieve that goal.”
As of today, the government and its private partners have completed three projects under the key infrastructure scheme of the current administration. These are the P2.2-billion Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway, the P1.72-billion Automatic Fare Collection System and the P16.43-billion PPP for School Infrastructure Phase I.
Transport infrastructure deal to be awarded by March
The state has awarded 12 PPP contracts to date. Such a figure is expected to reach 15 by June.
One of the three projects targeted to be awarded is the P298-million deal for the upgrading of the existing tech infrastructure of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
“We have qualified IL&FS Technologies Ltd. and Sahi Technologies Unlimited Inc. for the first stage of the bidding. The timetable is to award it by March, so they could start working on building the software for a year and a half,” LTFRB Chairman Winston M. Ginez said on Tuesday. “It’s a priority project for us.”
The project intends to computerize the agency’s manual processes, as well as the development, supply and operationalization of its network infrastructure (hardware) and database and applications (software).
The computerization efforts will help clean up existing data of the agency, and enhance data collection and processing. It is also envisioned to effect integration within the board and among related agencies.
As a result, this will lessen the processing time for its transactions, promote and improve access to public information and provide channels for feedback.
05 January 2016
By Lorenz S. Marasigan
