EDITORIAL - White elephants

Investors have often cited the need for the country to develop or upgrade ports to attract investments and spur economic activity. Studies conducted by government auditors show that if these objectives are to be achieved, port development must go beyond repair or construction of port facilities.

A 2009 report prepared by the Commission on Audit called the attention of the government on port construction projects amounting to P520.76 million that were found to be “non-viable and unable to spur economic growth” in the areas where the projects were built. In 2008, the COA had already warned the Philippine Ports Authority that 18 ports developed at a cost of P1.06 billion were underutilized or not utilized at all.

The PPA and other government agencies should determine whether the problem is due to faulty selection of areas for port development, and whether corruption came into play. It must also be determined whether the ports were underutilized because other factors needed to spur economic growth were missing. As in agrarian reform and other government programs, several factors must be present to achieve an objective. Without roads for market access and other support services, farmlands distributed to peasants lie fallow. Bridges can lead to nowhere and end up as white elephants. Health centers need enough nurses and doctors apart from drugs and medical equipment.

Those ports developed at a cost of billions cannot be allowed to turn into white elephants. The problem should also not deter the government from upgrading or constructing other ports, which are needed in an archipelago of 7,100 islands. Some places already have the necessary factors in place and are waiting for a port to give economic development a boost. The PPA must review its development program and see what can be done to upgrade port facilities while at the same time making those already operational viable.