Business Mirror
07 Aug 2014 Written by Lenie Lectura
THE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm) on Thursday said the government could already turnover the 218-megawatt (MW) Angat Hydro Electric Power Plant (AHEPP) in Bulacan to Korea Water Resources Corp. (K-Water) next month.
“We are now looking at closing in one month, which means that turn-over will happen by September,” Psalm President Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. said.
Psalm earlier said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has approved the loan application of K-Water.
“The BSP approval has already been issued and with that, we are optimistic that the closing of the sale for the AHEPP will occur very soon,” Ledesma had said.
Out of the $440-million payment, $340 million is the subject of the BSP application.
K-Water, in April 2010, won the bid to privatize the facility. It placed a bid of $440.8 million. It was supposed to take over the facility late last year.
The sale was supposed to be finalized March of this year.
However, regulatory approvals took a long time before these were secured. In particular, Ledesma had said that the necessary business permits and BSP registration of K-Water’s loan were lacking then.
There was also a case filed by non-governmental organizations questioning the constitutionality of the transaction with the Supreme Court. This delayed the turnover of the assets to K-Water. The Court eventually upheld the sale of the Angat power plant to the South Korean company.
Separately, the National Power Corp. (Napocor) said the turn-over of the facility will take place on September 1.
Napocor President Maria Gladys Cruz-Santa Rita said her office has already released notice of separation to 57 Angat Power Plant employees after it was advised by PSALM that the turnover of the facility will take place on September 1.
Napocor will continue to operate the nonpower components of Angat that includes the dam and spillway and the management of the Angat watershed. source
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