PH needs those modular Ro-Ro ports

By: Neal H. Cruz

Philippine Daily Inquirer

One of the tests of the mettle of the Aquino administration is the recommended cancellation of the Ro-Ro Ports Project that the Arroyo administration concluded with the French government. With the accession of President Aquino to Malacañang, it seems that all big-ticket deals concluded by the previous administration were subjected to review, perhaps on the suspicion that they were overpriced like the infamous NBN-ZTE deal. One of these deals reviewed is the Ro-Ro Ports Project.

First off, let me say that the Ro-Ro is one of the best sea vessels to come out of World War II. Ro-Ro stands for “Roll On-Roll Off,” where cargo trucks and other heavy equipment can be driven into and off the hold of the sea vessel. The front of the vessel opens onto the pier, thus saving a lot of time in loading and unloading cargo. The Ro-Ro was first used to deliver tanks, trucks, bulldozers, jeeps and troops to invasion landing beaches during World War II. It was adapted to peacetime use and became the Ro-Ro vessel.

Instead of the many hours and even days it would take gangs of stevedores, trudging up and down gangplanks to and from the hold of the vessel, to load or unload sacks of rice, bananas, vegetables or other heavy cargoes they carry on their backs, loaded cargo trucks now just need minutes to drive into the hold of the Ro-Ro vessel.

Upon reaching its port of call, the Ro-Ro simply opens its front and the trucks drive off. Businessmen like it because it saves plenty of time in loading and unloading cargo, as they attested to in a story on the Inquirer business section a week ago. Boat owners also like it because it reduces the downtime of vessels—the time they have to wait at the ports while they are loaded and unloaded. For boats, every minute spent at the piers is money wasted.

There is a catch to the Ro-Ro, however. It needs a port that is at the same level as the front of the Ro-Ro when it is opened, so that the trucks can drive on or off the vessel to the pier. Since the level of the sea differ at different hours—according to the level of the tides as dictated by the phases of the moon—the Ro-Ro needs a port or pier that has an adjustable ramp that can be raised or lowered according to the level of the tide.

The standard concrete ports constructed by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) won’t do because they have fixed ramps. So when the tide is either too high or too low, the Ro-Ro has to wait for the tide to reach the proper level. Thus, precious time is wasted.

Comes now the French with a design for a modular steel port with adjustable ramps. Besides the adjustable ramps, the modular steel port has many other advantages. Unlike immovable concrete ports, it can easily be moved from one site to another. It needs only two to three months to install (whereas the concrete ports need at least six months to construct). And its steel is guaranteed to last at least 80 years.

What’s more, the French bank, BNP Paribas, offered to grant a loan for the project. So after a review and approval by the proper government agencies, the Department of Finance concluded an agreement with French Matiere S.A.S. as supplier for 72 modular Ro-Ro ports to be installed in different parts of the archipelago as part of the nautical highway.

But as is always the case with the Philippine government, what is concluded by one administration is no good for the next. So P-Noy’s review committee, composed of representatives from the Department of Transportation and Communications, Marina and the PPA, recommended the cancellation of the contract with the French.

However, the Philippines has already paid 15 percent of the contract price (P1.5 billion) and the French corporation has already fabricated approximately half of the steel pipe requirements for 72 ports, and these are ready for delivery to the Philippines. So the committee recommended that the Philippines accept the delivery, including the remaining 50 percent still to be manufactured. The PPA will then install the parts.

“PPA can competently handle any Ro-Ro ports project at a much lower price using locally available materials suitable to each specific port site and to the kind of sea condition we have in the Philippines,” the committee said. “This will give a higher multiplier effect to the economy.”

Unfortunately, experience has taught us that any infrastructure project in the Philippines is never finished at the original cost estimate but at a much higher price. All our public works contracts have escalation clauses and contractors always take advantage of these escalation clauses to increase the cost of the project.

Just one example, the Pulupandan port wharf in Negros Occidental was completed in 2003 to the tune of P333 million, with no less than eight revised project costs, the last one estimated at P416 million!

In contrast, it has time and again been shown that the French government-assisted Modular Ro-Ro Ports Project costs only P83 million at present value, taking into account the life cycle method. Compare this to the P159-million cost of other Ro-Ro ports, when subjected to the same parameters.

The committee also said there is “no demand” for Ro-Ro ports and PPA subsequently revised its original demand projection from 234 Ro-Ro ports to just four! What a comedown.

But the need for ports in archipelagos has been echoed by the Asian Development Bank’s Bridges Across Oceans (2010) and the Japanese International Cooperation Administration.

And Gov. Joey Salceda, for one, has indicated the immediate need for 15 Ro-Ros in the Bicol region. The Ro-Ro Port Project would have provided 11 of those 15.