Bid starts for LED streetlights project

TERMS of reference for the energy-saving Light Emitting Diode Streetlight project of the city is finished and ready for bidding, Mayor Mauricio Domogan said.

Mayor Domogan said he forwarded to the City Council the TORs for discussion and inclusion of the LED street lighting project in next session’s agenda.

The mayor said many proponents signified interest for the LED streetlight project which aims to improve the street lighting system which for years has been hardly maintained due to lack of personnel by the City Engineer’s Office.

The city will allocate P60 million annually for the new project, including personnel services.

After the City Council approves the TORs, the City Government will move for the project bidding after publication of invitation to bid in a daily newspaper of national circulation.

Among the obligations of the winning proponent is to replace all of the more than 7,500 existing streetlights, City Government offices and property lights and school lighting into LED bulbs in six months and operate and maintain the lighting system for the city in the next 12 years.

The return of investment of the private partner will comprise savings incurred from the P60 million yearly budget.

Five percent of the total cost of the project will be placed by the bidder as performance bond after the signing of a contract to guarantee the efficiency of service and maintenance of the street lights.

The mayor said the performance bond guarantees the city is not short-changed in any project it enters.

The winning bidder will also maintain and assign personnel to regularly fix street lights and entertain complaints on street lighting in the city.

Barangay officials have been critical of the poor services of the City Engineer’s Office in maintaining street lights in the city which to them are important in maintaining peace and order in their villages, especially during night time.

Tourists in the city have also complained of poor street lighting making them feel unsecured even in the Central Business District.

City Engineer Leo Bernardez, meanwhile, said they have a hard time maintaining street lights in the city because they only have one electrical engineer to supervise maintenance and electrical repair needs of barangays.

This backlog has caused uproar among local village officials as most of malfunctioning street lights take months before they are repaired or replaced.

Late last year, Benguet Electric Cooperative expressed disinterest in bidding for the street lighting in the city in favor of the LED streetlight project being pursued by the City Government.

Beneco and local government officials have disagreed on issues such as light operation hours and rates in metered and unmetered street lights in the city.

For the year 2010, the city spent P37 million for consuming 455,000 kilowatt hours with the CEO incurring P4.5 million in maintenance expenses or an estimated P41.5 million in maintenance and management of streetlights.