Published
By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT
The government and the
private sector are working towards the creation of a long-term infrastructure
masterplan to ensure continuity of implementation of the infra projects in the
country that will transcend beyond changes in government leadership.
Isidro A. Consunji,
chairman of the Philippine Overseas Construction Board and the country’s
leading construction and engineering firm DMCI Holdings, Inc., told reporters
at the 4th Philippine Construction Industry Congress, the industry sector is
drafting a long-term infra masterplan.
Part of the action
plans presented at the Construction Congress include the drafting and filing of
a bill calling for a 30-Year Long-Term Infrastructure Development Plan.
Consunji lamented the wastage
of public money because projects started by one administration were not pursued
by the new government because it has different priorities than its predecessor.
“So, we suggest to come
up with a long-term infra plan which implementation cannot be affected whoever
is the new administration,” he said.
“If there’s a new president, he has a different priority. We are trying to
avoid that because that is not a very good way of spending public money,” he
stressed.
Consunji further said
this long term infra plan was made effective in Australia and other countries.
For his part, Trade and
Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the government will pursue the
institutionalization of the Build Build Build (BBB) beyond the Duterte
administration to ensure continued infrastructure development in the country.
Lopez said it will be
an inter-agency push to be led by the National Economic and Development
Authority for the drafting of a bill that will institutionalize the BBB
program.
The bill will seek to
determine the exact amount of percentage from the national government budget to
be allocated for infrastructure programs.
“The infrastructure may depend on the need by that time so that is part of
future planning but there must be a law to guide that,” he said.
Under the Philippine
Construction Roadmap 2020-2030, the value of the domestic construction is
placed at ₱130 trillion by 2030.
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