DOTC chief to explain Sasa port project cost

DEPARTMENT of Transportation and Communication Technology (DOTC) Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya is set to explain the alleged overpriced P17-billion Sasa Port Modernization project in Friday's forum at Park Inn by Radisson Davao.

Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (DCCCII) executive director Mary Antonette D. Doromal said that major port operators in Davao Region will sit as reactors in the session, among them include Davao International Container Terminal Inc. (DICT) and Hijos Port.

"Our goal is to be able to let DOTC Secretary Abaya to explain to us thoroughly about the proposal (PPP project)," she said.

Representatives from the Regional Development Council (RDC) and mayors of cities and municipalities in the region will also attend the forum.

"The chamber is doing all it can to provide a venue for them to clarify everything," Doromal said.

Some stakeholders who will be directly affected will also converge at the forum to air out their side on the port's bid price set more than four times higher than the bid cost previously set at P4 billion by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).

The International Finance Corp. (IFC) of the World Bank hired consultants from Germany to do a study and put the bid price for the port's modernization program at P17 billion.

"How can bankers like those in the Development Bank of the Philippines and World Bank IFC be better on these matters than PPA, which has the mandate, expertise and experience in port development and management," Peter T. Lavina said earlier.

For his part, Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport)-Davao president Ferdinand Maranon said should the government place the bid cost at that rate only to let the local exporters suffer from high exportation cost in the end, they will be forced to used other port terminal in the region that will accommodate them.

The exporters' group said it is not against the proposal of modernizing and privatizing the Sasa Port. It said it, in fact, is a welcome development because it will boost the local economy.

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