MANILA, Philippines - The highly touted public-private partnership (PPP) program of the Aquino administration in terms of public works will not be limited to Metro Manila and its nearby environs.
Metro Cebu and Mindanao will also benefit from the PPP program to sustain economic growth and global competitiveness.
Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson said plans are afoot to introduce PPP in Metro Cebu and key areas in Mindanao, following the initial success of the recent PPP conference.
"DPWH will develop PPP projects in other areas. We want to pursue projects in Metro Cebu and Mindanao," Singson stressed.
For these areas the plan is to enter "long term performance based maintenance where the private sector would finance, rehabilitate, and manage long stretches."
Initially, "we are looking at 100 kilometer stretches and it will be the government that will pay on an annual basis rather than user fees," he said.
Singson unveiled Thursday three projects to be implemented next year under the PPP program, which seeks to engage private sector participation in public works.
The three projects are the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Cavite side), Phase 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Expressway, and the NLEx-SLEx (North Luzon-South Luzon Expressway) Link Expressway - involving P43.4 billion in all.
These projects were part of the high-standard highway master development plan within a 200-kilometer radius in Metro Manila that seeks to decongest the metropolis from traffic.
Under the master development plan to improve traffic, Singson said highways will have four lanes, "with controlled access and speed designs of 80 to 100 kilometers per hour."
Right now, he said there are only about 286 kilometers of highways within the 200-kilometer radius of Metro Manila, which pales in comparison with neighboring countries.
For instance Malaysia has 1,500 kilometers, Greater Bangkok, 320 kilometers and Indonesia, 659 kilometers.
"Bottom line, there is a need and strong demand for more standard highways and expressways in the country," he said.
To improve global competitiveness, Singson said an additional 135 kilometers of highway are under construction covering the Tarlac-La Union Expressway, North Luzon tollways extension, North Luzon-South Luzon link expressway, the Cavite-Manila coastal extension and the Metro Manila Skyway stage.
He pointed out that Metro Manila radial roads were designed in the 1960s and worse, "they are not even complete as we speak."
This explains why "our travel speed in most of our major roads in Metro Manila is now less than 20 km per hour and even slower in some existing highways and expressways during peak hours. Even expressways experience slow traffic."
The master plan covering the 200-radius of Metro Manila, Singson said, involves 322 kilometers "but need full feasibility studies."
"We hope, by 2012 there would be more projects being offered to the private sector.
Also, the DPWH is studying the privatization of weigh bridge operations "to have more efficient enforcement against overloading on our roads.
