THE Misamis Oriental Provincial Governmental has started talking to investors keen on leasing the capitol grounds, after the Public-Private Partnership ordinance gets a nod in the Provincial Council on April 12.
“We started talking to investors already,” Provincial Governor Yevgeny Vincente Emano said when asked about the next steps that the province undertakes since the ordinance was approved.
According to the “PPP Manual for LGUs (local government units),” PPP is a contractual agreement between the government and a private firm targeted towards financing, designing, implementing and operating infrastructure facilities and services that were traditionally provided by the public sector.
Emano earlier said SM, Ayala Corporation, and real estate development company Filinvest have submitted their unsolicited proposals to the province to lease and develop a part of the Provincial Capitol grounds.
One proposal, he said, is that the company will build both the new provincial jail in Initao and the Provincial Capitol in Alubijid.
Board Member Gerardo Sabal, chair of the committee on ways and means said the approval of the PPP ordinance would open doors to more investments in the province, not only the jail transfer project.
“The PPP code is a guideline of all PPP projects that the Provincial Government will undertake soon, this is required by the DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government) to ensure protection of both parties and also ensure the successful implementation of the project,” Sabal said.
“The committee on ways and means, it is our first legislative measure because Governor Bambi Emano requested us to act on it, especially several corporations have already submitted their unsolicited proposal. Na-timingan rapud nga ang atong Provincial Government is dugay rapud nangandoy na mabalhin na gyud siya (it's just right timing that the province has long dreamed to transfer the provincial jail), it has become an eyesore for an urbanized city,” he added.
After the approval, the interested corporations can officially submit their unsolicited proposals, and the Provincial Government, using the PPP code, can start the mechanism on the selection of the project proponent.
Sabal cited one of the possible arrangements, such as, the corporation could contract 30 years to utilize the local government property, and in return, the local government could give privileges to the corporation, like a tax holiday.
He said the arrangements would depend in the negotiations between the local government and the corporation.
“The duration of the lease depends upon the sit down or the negotiation of both parties, they can stipulate also that they can extend their contract for another 30 years, for example, if they already consumed the 30 years agreement,” he said.
“It can be 70-30 percent sharing of the contract, it can be that the amount they spent for the development of the jail and capitol, for a period of time, we can give them tax holiday,” he added.
Sabal said they are aiming that the project will be finished before their term ends in 2019.