PPP project, finally

Finally, a public-private partnership (PPP) project that is about to take off.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is set to award a contract for the Mactan-Cebu International Airport project to a consortium led by Megawide Construction and international airport operator GMR Infrastructure after it submitted the highest bid of P14.4 billion.

The winner is expected to build a world-class international passenger terminal building capable of processing eight million passengers a year, although Megawide and GMR aim to build a terminal that can accommodate 25 million.

GMR Airports manages the Delhi and Hyderabad airports in India and the Istanbul Sabiha Gocken Airport in Turkey, and has operated the Male’ airport in Maldives.

Unfortunately, questions have been raised about the credentials of the winning consortium’s operating partner, GMR from India, and how they are said to be below par compared to the other bidders who are world-class.

Let’s look at Changi Airport International or CAI, the operating partner of the Filinvest-CAI consortium. Contrary to what others may think, CAI does not operate Singapore’s Changi Airport although a sister firm does.

Instead, CAI operates King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. It is in the final year of its six-year operations and management contract and there is no news of an extension yet. As for the quality of airport operations, King Fahd Airport’s airport service quality (ASQ) ranking by Airports Council International (ACI) is 157 out of about 200 participating airports.

As for the other bidder Incheon, they are indeed one of the best airports worldwide but the fact remains that they are a government-run airport in Korea and have never gone international as an airport operator.

They only have a ‘Consignment Management’ agreement with Dohuk Airport in Iraq and possibly a few consultancy assignments.

Clearly, they have never had a chance to try and transfer their airport management experience to another country, understand what challenges they could potentially face, what kind of economic, cultural and political issues they may face in running an airport in another country.

Let’s now look at GMR Airports.

When GMR took over Delhi Airport in 2006, it was ranked 101st in ASQ ratings in the world. In 2012, it rose to fourth.

As for Hyderabad Airport, it was ranked second among best small airports by the ASQ ratings in 2012.Even in the overall rankings, Hyderabad Airport is ranked 12th in the world. As for Istanbul Airport, it is one of the fastest growing international airports in Turkey in terms of passenger traffic and has won many awards such as Best Low Cost Airport in Europe by agencies like SkyTrax.

Globally, GMR is the third largest private airport operator in terms of passenger traffic, behind Ferrovial (which runs London’s Heathrow Airport) and TAV (which runs Istanbul’s other major airport).

So unless critics can dig up some real dirt about GMR, then they better give this particular PPP project a chance.

Project balanghay sets sail

The Department of Education (DepEd), ANGKLA and Philippine Transmarine Carriers, Inc. (PTC) have signed an agreement creating Project Balanghay, a maritime track that aims to educate and train senior high school students by providing the technical skills, development and expertise allowing them to immediately seek further studies or available career opportunities in the maritime industry upon completion of their secondary education.

Named after the wooden watercraft used by early Filipinos during pre-colonial times, this specialized senior high school program aims to facilitate the reduction of the gap that will be created upon the implementation of the K to 12 Basic Education Program, as mandated by Republic Act 10533, otherwise known as the “Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013.” Through the project, senior high school students who have obtained basic technical skills will be given the opportunity to work as skilled personnel onboard upon graduation from high school.

Another objective of the project is to give high school students a thorough overview of the shipping industry, both local and international, and educate them on the prospects of a maritime career, in an effort to help sustain the prominence of the Philippines as the leading supplier of seafarers worldwide.

As one of the project proponents, PTC will design a curricular program of study along with the list of all the essential supplemental educational and training materials to be endorsed by the Maritime Industry Authority and approved by the DepEd. PTC will also be involved in the recommendation of instructors who will teach the pertinent subjects and provide students with industry-standard training in compliance with STCW Regulation 1/6, Training and Assessment.

The program will initially be implemented within select pilot schools across various regions in the country to be identified by the DepEd with the assistance of ANGKLA and PTC. A system based on international maritime standards will be used to identify student candidates for the Maritime Senior High School Track.

ANGKLA party-list, serving as the voice of the local maritime industry, will serve as the catalyst for the successful implementation of the project.

The first batch of graduates of Project Balanghay are expected to complete the program at the end of school year 2016, upon which they shall continue to be assisted by PTC in securing shipboard-training opportunities.

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