DAVAO del Norte Governor Rodolfo del Rosario, outgoing chair of the Regional Development Council (RDC), has sought for the development of other seaports, instead of pushing through with the controversial Davao Sasa Port Modernization Project.
In a press conference Tuesday after his end-of-term State of the Region Address (Rosa) at the RDC-National Economic Development Authority (Neda) office in Davao City, Rosario said they are looking at the proposal of transferring the project to areas in the cities of Panabo, Tagum or Digos.
"This should be revisited again by the government especially now with the incoming Duterte administration. Hopefully a review of where should be the direction of the project will be conducted,” he said.
He added that realizing the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project to other areas outside Davao City will decongest traffic.
“There are objections that the project must be relocated because the present location in Sasa is congested. If we improve it, it will only contribute to a more traffic jam,” del Rosario said.
The governor pointed out the P18.99 billion Sasa port project can be a good project if converted to a tourism and/or commercial port facility.
Last March 22, the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) issued in General Bid Bulletin 19-2016 that the Bid Submission Date for project moved and will be delayed until the agency can provide further notice as they still are up for securing all the needed clearances for the project to push through including the endorsement from the Davao City City Council. The bid submission date has been moved several times.
In a phone interview Wednesday, Lawyer Harry Roque, the legal counsel for petitioners who sought a Writ of Kalikasan or a Temporary Protective Order to stop the project’s implementation, said that they are hoping that the new administration will look closely in the project.
“I’d like to believe that the project, which will now fall under the Duterte administration, will not push through and be suspended. I think the project is dead,” he said.
The petition was filed last April before the Supreme Court against the DOTC, Philippine Ports Authority and Pre-qualification, bids and awards Committee.
So far, the project has attracted five pre-qualified bidders, these are Asian Terminals Inc.- DP World FZE Consortium, Bollore Africa Logistics, International Container Terminal Services Inc., San Miguel Holdings Corp.-APM Terminals Management (Singapore) Pte Ltd. Consortium with Hyundai Development Company and Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co. Ltd. as contractors.
The PPP Center last January confirmed that Portek International Pte Ltd., also prequalified bidder for the DSPM, pulled out from the bidding process.
Proposal for tourism port conversion
The Mindanao Business Council (MinBC), one of the groups that is pushing for the re-evaluation of the project said that the multi-billion project must be poured more on the tourism aspect of the modernization project like establishing a cruise tourism terminal rather than give focus on cargo and container handling.
“We are not really opposing, we are just thinking that maybe the huge investment the DOTC would like to put in place might not be feasible, so we are saying that maybe there has to be a reevaluation of the project, we prefer to see a very modern cruise terminal that will be put there instead of spending money for the container facilities because in the very first place containers already moved to Panabo, Davao del Norte,” Vicente Lao, MinBC chairperson said.
Tourism industry players in the region also questioned why development of a cruise terminal or facility was excluded in the proposed project.
"It would be most ideal if the Sasa port could include a passenger terminal for both domestic and international cruise ships that would help boost the tourism industry of Davao and its neighboring regions," Mary Ann Montemayor of Davao Region Tourism Sector said.
Hike in port fees seen
Standing firm on the side of the businessmen in the city, Bonifacio Tan, president of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc., said that the overpriced project at P18.99 billion is not viable and will make the port charges expensive by 80 percent, and can be changed and increased every three years.
“It will make not only Davao port expensive because the Philippine Port Authority (PPA) will set a uniform tariff, it will be applicable to all ports in Mindanao,” Tan said.
DSPM is a project now under procurement with a structure of Build-Transfer-and-Operate within 30 years. It is one of the few PPP projects under the present administration in Mindanao.