PASIG CITY — A Brown Company, Inc., a key player in real estate and agribusiness in Southern Philippines and has also ventured into the power sector, is now looking to expand its presence through a series of infrastructure projects meant to address worsening traffic conditions in key cities.
The company has formed a Consortium geared towards opportunities in the development of prospective projects in transportation as well as in other sectors, such as power and water. Members of the Consortium are Private Equity Investment and Development Corporation (PEIDC) and Systra Philippines Inc., a member of the Systra Group of France.
The Consortium has teamed up with MTD Philippines, Inc., a subsidiary of AlloyMTD of Malaysia. On November 14, the Consortium of A Brown, PEIDC and Systra represented by A Brown Executive Vice President Mr. Roel Z. Castro signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) with MTD led by President Engr. Isaac David.
A Brown has widely established its expertise in project management through its subsidiaries, such as Palm Concepcion Power Corporation (PCPC) and Peakpower Energy Inc. PCPC’s banner project is the 135 MW coal-fired power plant in Concepcion, Iloilo. Peakpower has two bunker-fired peaking power plants under 15-year Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) agreements with distribution utilities: Peakpower Soccsargen Inc., is a 20 MW plant in General Santos that began operations last month, and Peakpower San Francisco is a 5 MW plant in Agusan del Sur schedule to start operations this December. A third 10 MW plant in Bukidnon is currently in the preparation stages. These projects were established to supplement the shortfall in the electricity supply of the region.
Another subsidiary, Hydrolink Projects Corporation, is developing a 26 MW hydropower plant in Surigao del Sur targeted for operation in 2017. Also underway is the P500-million bulk water supply project of A Brown in Opol, Misamis Oriental in partnership with the local government to finally address the town’s need for its independent water supply system, which has been dependent on Cagayan De Oro Water District for supply and receiving only 10% of its 8,000 cubic meter daily requirement.
On the other hand, MTD Philippines, through AlloyMTD Malaysia, is a leading Asian infrastructure conglomerate operating in the global market, actively present in Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, UK, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Chile, China, and the Philippines. The company has a vast experience in civil engineering and construction, manufacturing, infrastructure concessions, energy, port operations, real estate and property development, and operations and maintenance.
MTD has successfully completed the construction of the 36-kilometer South Luzon Expressway in the Philippines, as well as Phase 1 of the construction of a P2.5-billion CALABARZON Regional Government Center (RGC) with 5,000-person capacity in a 3-hectare area in Calamba City, the biggest BOT project at the local government level thus far.
Acknowledging the companies’ respective track records, both signatories of the MOC expressed their enthusiasm for the project.
“A Brown has always been committed to seeking opportunities for growth and development in different regions, especially infrastructure projects and services,” says Mr. Castro in a press statement. “We aim to fulfill whatever is lacking, hence our recent foray into energy projects to address the inconvenience and high cost of rotational brownouts. We aim to do the same through this partnership with such an established group as MTD—to address chronic infrastructure issues in the Philippines and possibly in the ASEAN region.”
Speaking on behalf of MTD Philippines, Engr. David echoes this sentiment. “We are very interested to be a part of A Brown’s infrastructure development for the Philippine public,” he says. “We are well aware of the need to build more projects that would sustainably alleviate a lot of inconvenient problems we are faced with.” With progress being inextricably linked to excellent basic infrastructure, Engr. David adds that issues such as daily traffic congestion and flooding are just a few of the many that could be addressed by this partnership. “We are excited, on board and fully supportive of this venture.” (PR)