Apeco rebidding stalled projects worth nearly P800M

Photo from Aurora Pacific Economic Zone (APECO)/Facebook

The Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (Apeco) is in the process of rebidding at least ten big-ticket infrastructure projects worth P796 million that were halted due to problems with contractors.

Gene Angelo Ferrer, the officer-in-charge for Apeco’s business development and marketing division told the Inquirer over the weekend that the projects have languished already for 3 to 7 years, necessitating the need for an intervention from the economic zone’s current management.

On Friday last week, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. acknowledged the reform measures being implemented under the current Apeco president and chief executive officer, Gil Taway IV, agreeing that the high-value contracts must be rebid.

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“It’s a huge waste that this happened and we are hoping that the people of Aurora should have already been benefiting from these projects,” Marcos said in his speech during the distribution of government assistance for farmers and fisherfolks in the province.

“It has been decided to stop the contracts and rebid those so they can be finished at the soonest possible time,” he added.

Ferrer cited some of the projects, including the P75 million contract for the construction of their administrative building inside the 13,000-hectare economic hub in the province of Aurora.

The other projects include the P 439-million contract for a one-stop-shop center, and the P 47-million phase 2 contract for a sewage treatment plant, Ferrer cited.

According to Malacanang, the Apeco announced last month that it aims to entice investments in the agro-industrial, energy, and defense sectors.

READ: Apeco bamboo plantation feasibility study nears completion

Back in April, Apeco had signed an agreement for a feasibility study with the Kapwa Agroforestry Corporation, which is eyeing the establishment of a 5,000-hectare bamboo plantation inside the economic zone.

The investor, Apeco said, has an estimated budget of P1.2 billion for the plantation, with projections that the bamboo planted inside the farm will be ready for harvest within a period of five years.

In May, the Apeco also signed an investor’s agreement with the Singapore-based firm Pacific Impact Development Pte. Ltd. (Pacific Impact) which plans to put up a 25-megawatt renewable energy plant, which would most likely be solar-powered.

The Apeco has also apparently changed policies under Taway IV on the issue of accepting gambling operations within the ecozone, with Malacañang saying that it was no longer accepting Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).

Lucky Dragon, the sole POGO firm operating in Apeco since 2020, left the ecozone in May this year.