Consumer group fears losses in power project

Power consumers nationwide are concerned that millions of dollars intended for the rural electrification program will be lost because the National Electrification Administration (NEA) "cannot get its act together."

The National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms Inc. (NASECOR), the umbrella organization of power consumers, expressed grave concern that the program "will suffer the same fate as previous foreign-assisted projects of the NEA where precious dollar funding was forfeited and expensive supplies and equipment were left to deteriorate because of the agency’s failure to get vital projects going."
The program is substantially funded by a loan commitment from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

The loan facility extended by the JBIC will expire in October this year.

To date, some $40 million from the JBIC loan package remains unutilized. If the government fails to avail itself of the remaining proceeds by October, the loan will be forfeited.

Part of the unused portion of the loan is earmarked for the supply of woodpoles and crossbars for rural electrification.

The bidding for the woodpoles and crossbars was completed in February last year. Nerwin Industries, a local contractor with Malaysian partners, offered the lowest bid of $11.7 million, nearly $2 million lower than the runner-up offer.

However, the NEA board has yet to award the project despite recommendation from the agency’s prequalification, bids and awards committee (PBAC) and from then NEA Administrator Conrad Estrella III who recently resigned to prepare for a congressional bid.

Nasecor president Pete Ilagan, citing reports from affiliate electric cooperative members nationwide, said "procured parts and components of the rural power distribution systems are, indeed, rotting in some bodegas or from exposure to the elements."

Bulk of the transformers and other hardware required by the rural electrification program have been delivered to the barangay beneficiaries, but these cannot be installed because there are no posts.