WILL SET UP HYDROPOWER PLANT AS BONUS
[ malaya.com.ph ] April 30, 2008
By MYLA IGLESIAS
A newly formed company headed by a former presidential assistant for national security and political affairs yesterday said it will build a 19 kilometer tollway from Commonwealth Ave. in Quezon City to Bigte, Norzagaray, north of San Jose del Monte Bulacan.
The new road will pass by the La Mesa Dam, a protected watershed. As bonus, the project involves the setting up of a P1 billion hydropower plant that will use water from the dam.
Ausphil Tollway Corp., in press conference yesterday said that the National Economic Development Authority has given it the notice of award for the unsolicited project first submitted five years ago or in April, 2003.
Ricardo Penson, Ausphil president and former political affairs assistant at the Office of the President, said he expects NEDA to give the notice to proceed by June 2008.
Penson said his company now has P1.5 billion to start the project. The first phase of the project to be called North Luzon East Expressway (NLEE) will cost P7.8 billion, bulk of which will be funded by borrowings.
Penson said the new road will ease traffic congestion by 2011.
The first phase of the project is called "La Mesa Parkways", 19 kilometers stretching from Commonwealth Avenue -La Mesa Park area to Bigte, Norzagaray.
The second phase involve the rehabilitation of 36 kilometers of existing national road from Norzagaray to Baliwag converting the current two-lane road into a four-lane highway.
Penson said that the project will be completed by 2011.
The road will be within the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System property. Roughly one-fourth of the road will be elevated providing a scenic route within the watershed.
Ausphil has as partner Egis Project S.A. which will operate and maintain the " La Mesa Parkway".
Penson said Ausphil will spend roughly P13.6 billion for the P7.8 billion roadway, P1 billion for the power plant and the balance for the water component project.
Pension said the project includes the construction of the 35-megawatt low friction hydroelectric turbine station facility, with a capacity to expand to additional 80 megawatts in Bicti Basin and Downstream location prior to Tunnel 3 of the pipeline to generate power for the project.
He said that that the company expects to get from the MWSS the contract to build the pipeline that will feed the power plant within three months.
" We got the license from the DOE since 2003, once we get the approval from the MWSS we will complete the project simultaneously", Penson said.
Penson said the turbine will be supplied by a partner and which will get 65 percent of revenues with 25 percent going to ATC and 10 percent to MWSS.
Ausphil is an infrastructure development company incorporated in the Philippines on February 2001.
MWSS and ATC signed in June 2002 the memorandum of understanding for the right of way inside the watershed.
In April 2003, the Auspil submitted an unsolicited proposal under the BOT for other contractual arrangement acceptable to Toll Regulatory Board (TRB). The MWSS as project sponsor together with the Department of public works and Highway formally endorsed and submitted the unsolicited BOT proposal to the ICC-NEDA in August 2004.
The TRB designed the NLEE project and endorsed for approval the unsolicited BOT proposal to the ICC-NEDA in January 2005.
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