$232-M loan sought for road proj

The Arroyo administration is negotiating a $232-million loan for Phase 2 of the controversial National Roads Improvement and Management Program (NRMP).

The proposed loan was approved in principle by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) last week, paving the way for the government to negotiatethe terms of the loan with the International Bank for Rural Development, an arm of the World Bank.

The program would continue where Phase 1 left off in the construction of management systems that would ensure the upgrading and preservation of the National Road System (NRS).

The fund would be used for civil works including the upgrading, widening and maintenance of specified network roads and highways nationwide. It would also finance institutional capacity building.

To be implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways, the program would fund the establishment of what the program called “effective corporate processes and structures.”

The objective, according to the loan covenant, was “to increase efficiency, enhance governance and strengthen integrity at all levels and operations of the DPWH.”

The loan would be a 20-year loan including an eight-year grace period.

Also last week, the BSP approved in principle a E79.779-million mixed loan from the Bank of Belgium that would finance dredging of Pasig River over a 10-year period.

The program would involve the removal and containment of about 2.83 million cubic meters of sediment and debris that had accumulated along the bottom of the river.

The dredging program would cover 17 kilometers, about two kilometers from the Del Pan Bridge in Manila all the way to the Napindan Hydraulic Flood Control.

The loan proposal had set aside E11.351 million for Phase 1 of the dredging project, E15.027 million for Phase 2 and another E15.242 million for Phase 3. The final phase would cost E38.159 million.