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New airports, LRT lines set in 2011

http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view/20100903-290360/New-airports-LRT-lines-set-in-2011

By Ronnel Domingo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:32:00 09/03/2010

INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS and new light rail projects will make up part of a list of 10 priority projects that will be implemented in 2011 through government partnerships with the private sector.

Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said Friday that aside from key tourism-related infrastructure, the short list would also include general public works and agricultural facilities like irrigation.

“The government is looking forward to generating P180 billion to P200 billion in PPP (public-private partnership) undertakings” next year, Abad said.

He added that as government counterpart, Malacañang included in its proposed “Reform Budget for 2011” a total of P15 billion as a strategic support fund for PPP projects.

The amount is distributed equally among the departments of Public Works and Highways, Transportation and Communication, and Agriculture.

Abad said the strategic support would cover right-of-way purchases, horizontal land development and other facilities meant to encourage private investors to undertake public infrastructure projects with the government.

He said the short list, which would be culled from an initial list of 70 projects, includes airports on Panglao Island off Bohol and another in Daraga, Albay.

Abad said the list also included the improvement of the Laguindingan airport in Misamis Oriental as well as an irrigation facility in Sultan Kudarat and additional lines of the Light Rail Transit system.

The budget chief added that aside from the support fund, the proposed 2011 budget set aside P650 million under the DPWH, DOTC and the National Economic and Development Authority for capacity-building to enable agencies to conduct feasibility studies and development studies for PPP projects.

He said proposed projects for PPP eligibility would be subject to the evaluation of the Neda-Investment Coordination Committee, of which the budget secretary is a member.

“We look forward to working with Congress to make sure that PPP will really work to our benefit,” Abad said.

President Aquino announced the PPP scheme during his State-of-the-Nation address, saying the government by itself could not finance capital-intensive infrastructure projects.

The government continues to be burdened by a yawning budget deficit, which many blame on the anemic collections by the bureaus of Internal Revenue and of Customs that, in turn, were being caused by rampant tax evasion and smuggling.

With borrowings covering the big budget shortfalls in the past, a sizable part of the annual appropriations of the government goes to servicing those debts.

The Philippines has lagged behind its neighbors in attracting investors due to the country’s poor infrastructure facilities.


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