Privatization of road maintenance to start next year

MANILA, Philippines –  By next year, the maintenance of selected major thoroughfares might already be placed under the care of the private sector, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Rogelio Singson said yesterday.

Singson said they are hoping that by 2011, the government would be spending less of its resources on the maintenance of major roadways in the country and just delegate the responsibility to the private sector.

“As of now, a study is still being conducted on the privatization of road maintenance… Maybe this would be implemented next year,” Singson said.

“As of the moment, we could not say how much money the government would be able to save,” but he added that the government spends about P30,000 per kilometer every three months or about P120,000 a year.

According to him, a study showed that the useful life of a road is about 10 years, but there had been instances when they would have to undergo repairs after one or two years.

“We should strike a balance of five years,” he said. “This would be part of the concept of a public-private partnership wherein contractors could participate.”

Among the major road linkages that might be placed under the concept of privatized maintenance is the stretch of EDSA from Balintawak in Quezon City to Roxas Boulevard.

The DPWH chief said that based on the standards of the International Roughness Index (IRI), EDSA got a rating of six percent or poor, while the North Luzon Expressway was rated at three percent or good.

Singson is hoping to raise the quality of roads to the level of 3.5 percent or good.

He said government funds could then be utilized for other worthy projects of the Aquino administration.