9 infra projects up for Neda board nod

NEDA Director Ernesto Pernia. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

Nine infrastructure projects with a combined cost of more than P738 billion are up for approval by the National Economic Development Authority (Neda) board meeting next week, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said yesterday.

The projects include four transport infrastructure initiatives that scale up to hundreds of billions of pesos, with the first phase of the Mega Manila Subway taking up the bulk with an estimated cost of P230 billion, according to a presentation Pernia made during a business forum.

The other three transportation projects are the Malolos-Clark Airport-Clark Green City Rail (P150 billion), the Philippine National Railways (PNR) South Commuter Line stretching from Tutuban to Los Baños in Laguna (P134 billion) and the PNR Long-haul from Calamba to Bicol (P151 billion).

The six remaining projects are the Clark International Airport New Terminal Building (P15.35 billion), the New Centennial Water Source—Kaliwa Dam Project (P10.86 billion), the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project (P2.70 billion), Cavite Industrial Area Flood Management Project (P8.92 billion) and the Mindanao Railway Project– Tagum-Davao-Digos segment (P35.26 billion).

“[These projects] would be confirmed on [June 27]. These are the ones that are seen to be needed by the people,” Pernia told reporters.

Members of the Neda Board, chaired by President Duterte, are scheduled to meet on June 27 to approve the nine projects. After this, Pernia said that it would now be up to the respective government agencies for implementation.

Pernia said he expected a duration of six months to a year before groundbreaking could be made for these projects. Not all of these are expected to be finished within two to three years, he said. He did not expound on the target completion dates of the projects.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) will be the implementing agency of six rail and airport projects. The Kaliwa Dam project will be implemented by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewage System (MWSS) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project and the Cavite Industrial Area Food Management Project will be spearheaded by the National Irrigation Administration and the DPWH, respectively.

DOTr is co-implementing the new airport terminal building in Clark with state-owned firm Bases Conversion and Development Authority.

Most of projects will be funded by overseas development assistance (ODA), which is part of the government’s move to steer away from the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme as the government chose to lead implementation and leave the operation and maintenance of finished infrastructure to the private sector.

More than P8 trillion will be spent by the Duterte administration during its six-year term to build vital infrastructure such that the share of infrastructure spending to GDP will rise from 5.3 percent this year to 7.4 percent in 2022.