DOE’s e-trike project auction deferred indefinitely

THE DEPARTMENT of Energy (DOE) has indefinitely pushed back the bidding for the e-trike project.

In a bid notice published on Jan. 23, the DOE set a new date for the availability of bid documents for the e-trike project pending receipt of the “no objection letter” from funding agency Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The DOE said it would release bid documents upon the issuance of the ADB’s letter.

The Inquirer sought the DOE’s side on why it had kept the new auction date open but the department had yet to respond as of press time.

Tentatively, the DOE said, bid documents would be made available “on or before Jan.30, 2015” and that the dates for the pre-bid conference, deadline for submission of bids, and opening of bids would be announced upon the release of the bid documents.

The project was launched in 2011, when 20 e-trikes were deployed in Mandaluyong City as a pilot rollout, but its implementation had been pushed back for several times.

Just two weeks ago, the DOE announced that the bid documents would be made available on Jan. 23 but kept the date of the auction open.

The winners were supposed to have been announced in December 2013 but this was moved to January 2014. Later, due to lack of qualified off-takers, the DOE changed the scope of the project and the bidding mechanics. The rebidding was originally set for Jan. 5, 2015.

In mid-2014, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla told reporters that the target beneficiaries (local government units) for the e-trikes did not have the seal of good housekeeping (issued by the Department of Interior and Local Government) required by e-trike fund administrator LandBank, a state-owned firm.

“Financially, they (LGUs) have the funds and they can be allowed to borrow but they don’t have good housekeeping,” Petilla said.

The seal of good housekeeping recognizes LGUs with good performance in governance, local legislation, development planning, resource generation and allocation, and loan repayment.

Ten local government units, namely, Mandaluyong, Tarlac, Javier in Leyte, San Pablo, Boracay, Batangas, Marikina, San Jose in Camarines Sur, Imus in Cavite and Calapan in Mindoro had expressed interest to participate in the government’s e-trike project by ordering a combined 3,000 units.

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