CoA orders 14-year old NLPCSI to make concrete operations plan

THE COMMISSION on Audit (CoA), in its 2018 report, asked the Northeastern Luzon Pacific Coastal Service, Inc. (NLPCSI) to create a concrete plan for its operations, which has not commenced 14 years since its inception. The NLPCSI was established in Jan. 2004 as part of the “Strong Republic Nautical Highway” flagship program of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. It was jointly organized by the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) and the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, and Aurora to develop and operate seaports and maritime business in the area. “After 14 years from its creation, NLPCSI has not yet started its principal business of providing and rendering general services incidental to or necessarily connected with the operation and management of coastal service facility in the Pacific Coast,” CoA said. The delay in the NLPCSI operation stemmed from the failure of Stoneworks Specialist International Corporation (SSIC) to deliver two units of coastal service facility vessel, as provided in a Vessel Purchase Agreement signed in Sept. 2009. — Charmaine A. Tadalan