THE controversial waste-to-energy (WTE) deal is now up for a Swiss challenge after the City Council has passed a resolution allowing Mayor Michael “Mike” Rama to sign the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) for the said project, City Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia said on Saturday, April 2, 2022.
Garcia said an interested third party company can submit a proposal to challenge the original proponent for the WTE project, New Sky Energy Philippines Inc.
According to the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB), a Swiss challenge is “initiated by an unsolicited proposal or when the original proponent makes an offer to the government without any formal or informal request from the former.”
Allowing third parties to participate in the Swiss challenge would ensure that the original proponent’s scheme is superior, according to the GPPB.
Garcia said the City has set a 30-day deadline to allow other parties to submit their challenge and proposal.
In the absence of any submission, Garcia said the City will then proceed to the original proponent for the project.
However, if a challenge is raised, the GPPB said the original party will get the right to “counter-match any superior offers given by the third party.”
The City Council approved the resolution allowing the mayor to sign the JVA last March 2.
However, no actions were taken by Rama, 10 days after receiving the resolution last March 16, making it deemed approved by inaction.
In a separate interview, Rama said he will wait for the outcome of the Swiss challenge before signing the JVA of the WTE project.
Various groups have criticized the project, saying that incinerating garbage to produce energy is harmful to the environment.
The proponent has proposed to occupy six hectares of land in the city and require the City to deliver 800 tons of garbage for 40 years.
The latest to criticize the project are two political candidates who are vying for national positions this coming May 2022 election. Vice presidential aspirant Walden Bello and senatorial candidate Luke Espiritu said the project is not good for the environment because it would release pollutants to the air.