By
Lenie Lectura- August 20, 2018
THE
Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) said on
Monday it would rebid the Manila thermal-power plant (MTPP) site.
This
developed after PSALM declared the August 15 auction a failure due to the
non-submission of bids. There were actually four bidders that initially
purchased bid documents. However, they decided eventually not to participate in
the bidding.
PSALM
President and CEO Irene Joy Besido-Garcia said PSALM would look into the
reasons the bidders decided not to join.
The
second bidding has yet to be scheduled. The state firm said the bidding would
commence “as soon as the road map for the second round of bidding is
finalized.”
Prior to
the decommissioning of MTPP in 2000, it benefited electricity users in the
Luzon grid. The decommissioned MTPP was privatized in 2009, the proceeds of
which were utilized for the liquidation of maturing power-sector debts. MTPP’s
privatization paved the way for a complete cleanup of the Manila thermal-power
plant land and prepared the site for disposal.
PSALM
said the property has a potential commercial value because of its proximity to
Manila’s business district.
It
earlier set a minimum bid price of P885 million for the sale of the MTTP land.
Bidding
is open to individuals and sole proprietorships, partnerships or corporations,
joint ventures or consortiums, government corporate entities and local
government units authorized by law to acquire, own, hold or develop real
property in the Philippines. If the bidder or any of its components is a
corporation, it must be duly registered and organized under the laws of the
Philippines and at least 60 percent Filipino-owned.
Garcia
said PSALM is determined to pursue the privatization of the MTTP land even if
the second bid would fail.
“Technically,
if the second round of bidding for land of the MTTP will still fail, under the
privatization rules, PSALM can proceed with negotiations to privatize. However,
it would still be up to the PSALM board if this option will be adopted or
we still proceed with another round of bidding,” Garcia said in a text message.
The
property is situated in Isla de Provisor along the Pasig River in Paco, Manila.
Comprised of eight lots, the property has an approximate area of 20,975 square
meters.
The
proceeds from the sale of the underlying land will help augment PSALM’s funding
sources for the management of its assumed liabilities.
As of
end-June, PSALM’s remaining principal debt stood at P246.73 billion, while the
remaining obligations under its independent power-producer contracts amounted
to P202.7 billion.
PSALM
successfully reduced the financial obligations by 64 percent to P449.4
billion. It is the agency mandated by the Electric Power Industry Reform
Act of 2001 to handle the sale of the remaining state-power assets and the
financial obligations of National Power Corp.
Since
then, PSALM already generated privatization proceeds from assets amounting to
P918.5 billion.
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