DOE to offer e-trikes to coops after LGUs fail to make the cut

THE ENERGY department plans to expand the market for its electric tricycle (e-trike) project as it looks at accredited cooperatives in the country as off-takers of the vehicle units. The government started exploring this option after some interested local government units (LGUs) failed to meet a “stringent requirement“ of the Land Bank of the Philippines.

“We are still looking at rebidding 3,000 units for this year. We have to take note that the success of the project also lies on the off-takers of the e-trikes,“ Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla said in an interview last Tuesday.

Mr. Petilla said that one of the requirements as an off-taker is a “seal of good housekeeping” -- a certification given by the Department of Interior and Local Government to recognize good governance among LGUs. 

“Land Bank can only guarantee those that have borrowing capacity and seal of good housekeeping, which is now a problem with some LGUs,” Mr. Petilla said.

He said in order to secure a “seal of good housekeeping,” an LGU is judged based a set of standards that include good planning, sound fiscal management, transparency and accountability.

Since most of the interested LGUs don’t have this, Mr. Petilla said: “We are now looking at cooperatives accredited by Land Bank as alternative takers.”

The Energy chief said that with the project’s current situation, the government may not be able to meet the target of awarding 15,000 e-trikes this year.

“We hope to resolve this immediately. Otherwise, the project cannot move. I’m looking at maximum 3,000 e-trikes this year, minimum 500 [units],” he said.

The awarding of a contract to supply and deliver the first 3,000 of e-trikes was supposed to take place in the first quarter of this year.

Four foreign companies participated in the auction for the first 3,000 units in August last year. They were: Lirica Rising Sun & Shoyo-Terra Group (from Japan), Uzushio Electric Co. Ltd. (Japan), Eco One Co. (Korea), and Teco Electric & Machinery Co. Ltd. (Taiwan).

The e-trikes were supposed to be deployed in Luzon -- 2,000 units were allotted for the National Capital Region (NCR) and 1,000 units for regions 4A (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) and 4B (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan).

The e-trike project -- a joint undertaking of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the DoE -- aims to replace some 100,000 tricycles that run on gasoline by 2017.

The ADB allotted $300-million in funding for the $504-million project. The government will shell out $99 million, and the Clean Technology Fund, $105 million.

These e-trikes were supposed to be deployed to various LGUs under a five-year rent-to-own scheme. After that, the tricycle drivers would already own the units. -- Claire-Ann Marie C. Feliciano

source:  Businessworld