By Danessa Rivera (The
Philippine Star) | Updated January 14, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - The Mindanao
Development Authority (MinDA) is urging Congress to pass a law that will allow
Mindanao to manage and operate the crucial power facility in the region before
the end of the Aquino administration.
MinDA is strongly opposing the privatization
of the 982-megawatt (MW) Agus-Pulangi hydroelectric power plants, saying these
facilities should be operated by the proposed Mindanao Power Corp. (MPC).
The Agus-Pulangi plants are
currently under the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.
or PSALM, the agency tasked to manage state-owned power assets.
PSALM is eyeing to sell these hydro
power plants in 2017.
“We remain consistent with what we
have put forward in terms of pushing for the passage of a bill that will allow
Mindanao Power Corp. to take over, manage and operate Agus and Pulangi, “ MinDA
investment promotions and public affairs director Romeo Montenegro said.
“Unfortunately, we have less than
two months before the current Congress ends so it’s possible it may be refiled
in the next Congress,” Montenegro added.
Montenegro noted that the Mindanao
business community is opposing the privatization of the Agus-Pulangi plants and
is supporting the establishment of the MPC.
The idea to let MPC take over the
facilities is to allow the region to directly reap the benefits of operating
the hydropower plants.
According to Montenegro, the
hydropower facilities play a crucial role in providing cheap power supply to
the region.
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