PPP Center says projects 'are on track'

The first project under the public-private partnership (PPP) program for infrastructure will be bidded out as planned within the first half of the year, the newly-created PPP center said Wednesday. PPP Center deputy executive director Cosette Canilao said the bidding for the operation and maintenance (O&M) contract for MRT 3 and LRT 1 — the first project. “We are on track," Canilao said in a press briefing. Canilao said the government is also on track in its plan to bid out 10 PPP projects this year and another 10 next year. According to the Department of Transportation and Communications, the O&M runs for four years and covers the 37.16-km rail mass transit system from Monumento in Caloocan City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City. Interested parties have been asked to file their formal expressions of intent for the contract until this Friday. Interested There are a lot of parties interested in the government's PPP scheme, Canilao said. The government’s economic team led by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima is now tyring to attract Chinese investors to the PPP program. Billed at as the Aquino administration’s centerpiece program, the PPP aims to tap private sector funds for 80 infrastructure projects worth P740 billion to be undertaken starting this year. Apart from the MRT-3 and LRT-1 O&M contract, the five initial projects are the P1.6-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) Link Road Project; the P10.59-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Expressway Phase II Project; and the P21-billion North Luzon Expressway-SLEX Connector Project. — VS, GMA News