THE Department of Energy (DoE) is awaiting a no-objection notice from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) regarding a proposal to modify the terms of the electric tricycle (e-trike) project to allow private sector participation.
DoE Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said the moment his agency receives the “no-objection” letter from the ADB, he would immediately call for the rollout of the project.
“We’re coming out with the new terms so we can roll out these e-trikes,” he told reporters.
The project, a holdover from the previous administration, has been scaled down by Mr. Cusi’s team to 3,000 units out of the original 100,000 units, translating in a lower project cost of P1.73 billion from P21.672 billion. The funding was sourced through a loan from the ADB. Each vehicle costs nearly half a million pesos.
“The framework and the assignment of [the vehicles] have no takers, thus we made amendments,” Mr. Cusi said, adding that the changes had been approved by the Department of Finance (DoF) and the National Economic and Development Authority.
The signatories of the contract covering the e-trike project are the DoF and the ADB. The DoE is not a party to it, but since it is the implementing and executing agency, it pointed out that the deployment model was flawed and had to be modified.
The program, initiated by the previous DoE leadership, was originally designed for the use of local government units, but they hesitated to buy the vehicles because of their cost and the process involved in the acquisition.
The new contract terms seek to expand the project to make the vehicles available to the private sector.
Although the cost of the vehicle remains the same, the private entities have more leeway and can be more flexible in adopting a business model that can work, the DoE has said. — Victor V. Saulon
