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AN
ASSOCIATION of Filipino business groups said it will not
question the manner by which the Philippine government
undertakes the privatization of the Manila North Harbor.
However,
the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI)
vowed to come into the picture once the terminal is
privately run.
Xavier
Aboitiz, chairman of the PCCI’s transportation
committee, told reporters on Thursday that the group’s
main objective is to make sure that the facility is
privatized, since this will become an example for other
port facilities nationwide.
Upon the
terminal’s privatization, the executive, whose family
controls the Philippines’ largest shipping company, said
that the PCCI will ensure that there will be competition
at the Port of Manila.
However,
Aboitiz said that the business group still maintains
that the government should only employ a phased
privatization of the facility while the other
unprofitable areas should remain under the control of
the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA). But these areas
will have to be privately managed as soon as cargo
volume grows.
Once the
harbor is successfully privatized, other
government-operated domestic ports such as the Port of
Cebu are likely to follow suit, Aboitiz said.
According to the terms of reference of the privatization
approved by the PPA board, control of the entire
North Harbor
facility, one of the country’s most inefficient, is
being sold as one whole terminal.
To be
auctioned off are the port’s container terminal, general
cargo terminal and passenger terminal complex, which
will be considered as one operational area.
Earlier,
the PCCI wanted to split the terminals into two major
areas, with two separate cargo handling operators
offering the same services, in a move to encourage
competition and bring down rates.
The
group then balked at its earlier stand after the PPA
said there isn’t enough cargo volume that would make the
two-operator arrangement viable.
The PPA
also rejected the phased privatization concept since it
has no assurance that the winning operator can recoup
its investments over time.
Last
month, the PPA declared a failure of bidding for the
harbor’s privatization. |
