NEDA OKs P11.7-B budget for new LTO ICT system

MANILA, Philippines - The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) has approved a budget of P11.7 billion for the Department of Transportation and Communications to set up a new information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and database for the Land Transportation Office (LTO), a DOTC official said yesterday.

The NEDA investment coordinating committee has reportedly approved the project last Thursday, clearing the way for the DOTC to hold a public bidding to get a contractor to set up the computer infrastructure for the LTO.

DOTC spokesman Nicasio Conti said that while NEDA approved a budget of P11.7 billion for the project, the DOTC’s approved budget remains at P6 billion to P8 billion.

Conti said the DOTC is working on the terms of reference for the public bidding, which DOTC Secretary Manuel Roxas II said could be held by next month.

Roxas said the new system is expected to handle about 18 million transactions annually, or about 126 million over the entire seven years the system will be used.

 “We’re looking for a robust and cost-effective solution that should be able to manage multiple transactions over a period of seven years, each transaction should cost approximately P80,” Roxas said. “We want a ‘self-liquidating’ IT solution that would allow the government to earn from it, not drain the national coffers.”

The bidding for a new ICT solutions provider will be conducted in anticipation of the February 2013 expiration of the government’s contract with Stradcom Corp.