DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 21 March) – Local government units must “think out of the box” in finding practical sources like the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme for vital infrastructure projects that cannot be funded by government’s limited resources, Regional Development Council 11 chair and Davao del Norte Governor Anthony del Rosario said.
In his message read by National Economic Development Authority 11 director Maria Lourdes Lim during the launch of the PPP Knowledge Corner Tuesday, del Rosario said the LGUs have not fully tapped the PPP program.
“We may be in a situation where we have tons of things to do for the development of our respective localities and are in fact ready to take on the challenge of the President (Rodrigo R. Duterte) to be catalysts of change but realizing in the end that we only have meager resources within our disposal,” he said.
The lack of financial or technical capacity should not discourage local executives to pursue their development objectives and that it must be seen as an opportunity to explore beyond the traditional sources of funding, he added.
He urged the local governments to be proactive players in the government’s massive infrastructure program described as the “Golden Age of Infrastructure” despite the budget constraints.
He encouraged LGUs to look for other sources of funding to implement infrastructure projects such as water supply, solid waste management, public markers, government complex, and transport terminals.
“Given the limited fiscal space, only a handful of these projects gets funded.
When our proposed projects do not find its way in the general appropriations act, what shall we do then?
Do we wait for the next budgeting season?
Or should we find other practical sources of financing?
