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THE
Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) and private port
operator Harbour Centre Port Terminals Inc. are already
in discussions on how to settle their dispute on the
privatization of Manila North Harbor, a possible
breakthrough in the eight-month-long tiff between the
two parties.
A PPA
official said on Monday there are ongoing talks between
them and Harbour Centre on how to settle the issue and
move on with the privatization of the country’s biggest
domestic port, but also the most inefficient.
“Nobody
initiated anything, but both of us want this to be
resolved as soon as possible and move on,” the official
said, but clarified they have not reached anything with
the Romero-owned firm at this point.
The
official, however, said even if both parties reached an
agreement today, the privatization of the port may
happen by early next year as all the processes may start
from scratch. The government has been trying to
privatize the port since the 80s.
The move
follows the informal discussion between PPA general
manager Oscar Sevilla and Harbour Centre senior vice
president for administration Edwin Jeremillo in February
on the possibility of dropping the court case.
Sevilla
explained to Jeremillo it was the PPA that gave the
orders to change the bidding requirements in the middle
of the procedure to have at least two companies to bid
for the privatization of the North Harbor.
“It was
[former National Economic and Development Authority
Director General Romulo] Neri himself who asked us that
there should be at least two bidders. If it were just
me, I would have let you bid,” Sevilla said.
Jeremillo handles both the bidding for the North Harbor
and also the case that Harbour Centre filed against the
bids and awards committee of the PPA at the Manila
Regional Trial Court.
Harbour
Centre, the lone bidder for the privatization with its
joint-venture partner Metro Pacific Investments Corp.,
filed a court case in August last year after the PPA
board inserted a provision—while the bidding process was
ongoing—that there should be at least two eligible
bidders. It asked the courts to force the PPA and its
bids and awards committee to proceed without waiting for
the second bidder.
The PPA
then had to halt the bidding procedure indefinitely, or
risk being cited for contempt, until the court hands
down its decision with finality.
Both the
PPA and Harbour Centre need the facility to be
privatized.
North Harbor
is envisioned by the government to be modernized before
2010, and port users and shipping lines are beginning to
exert pressure on the PPA to do something to privatize
the facility.
On the
other hand, besides its expansion program, Harbour
Centre needs to bag the North Harbor contract to prove
to its peers it can operate a port outside of the
flagship terminal, Manila Harbour Centre, a private
port. The company has lost in the bidding to operate
Mindanao Container Terminal and is currently negotiating
to operate a port in
Bacolod.
North Harbor
services the Metro Manila area and the nearby provinces
of Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya,
Rizal,
Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Quezon.
It can
accommodate all types of interisland vessels and its six
main piers cater to coastwise cargo and passenger ships.
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