A new maritime transportation route between Ceiba, Vieques and Culebra, the phased evaluation for the extension of PR 22 to Aguadilla, a new recycling plant, a light train between San Juan and Caguas, and the concession or monetization of the government-owned parking lots are some of the projects that will be presented to develop through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) this Thursday at the 'P3 Summit Puerto Rico', the first PPP summit.

The construction of a new residence for students of the University Campus of Mayagüez and health facilities, has also beencontemplated.

'The vast majority have an element of construction. For example, power plants, road construction and highway extension. Improvements to a seaport and fiber optic installation. There are others that have to do with services such as the boat route between Ceiba, Vieques and Culebra which is something that is very important as part of the redevelopment project of Roosevelt Roads Base that will catapult the demand of tourists so that the development of the area can grow,' Manuel Laboy, Secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Trade, told NotiCel.

The construction of a new recycling plant and another of compost that is also contemplated for the Toa Baja area. In technology, the digitization of traffic fines is considered.

'It is a transcendental project. At the moment only 30% of the fines that are issued are charged. More resources can be added, made as a pilot project in Ponce and worked. There are already a number of projects identified. We are talking about 25 to 30 projects that at least the government has identified in several additional areas of energy, land and sea transportation as well as the management of solid waste,' confirmed theDirector of the Public Private Partnerships Authority, Omar Marrero.

In the area of transportation there are several projects that include seaports and regional airports. Additional to the new boat route between Ceiba, Vieques and Culebra, Marrero explained that it is hoped to privatize those that already exist in Fajardo, and between Cataño and San Juan. They will also transfer the operations of government-owned parking lots.

'The government has a large inventory of 27 thousand parking spaces that in 78% is not charged. 69% are in the San Juan area where demand is quite high. This is an area of opportunity where we can monetize and bring additional resources to the treasury, 'he explained.

He argued that not all are surrounding agencies some of those that are in use does not have the maintenance due to which the possibility of monetizing it so that a privatizer pays the government the present value and the future income in exchange for it takes care of the Operation and maintenance of the same.

The light train between San Juan and Caguas was again submitted by the Municipality of Caguas to be analyzed and the extension of PR 22 to Aguadilla is maintained, but not as originally conceptualized. Marrero explained that the challenges in authorizations, construction and financing that involves extending the highway that ends in Hatillo has made neccesary to revisitthe project.

'Although this project remains a priority, the extension of the work is being analyzed to be sure that it is the most effective and efficient,' said the official.

'Several of them are presented on the first day of the summit. On the second day we received the input from the market to make the necessary modifications to guide them,' he explained.

In the area of social infrastructure, the construction of new health centers as a Comprehensive Center and a project of residences for students of the University Campus of Mayagüez are alsoproposed.

Among the energy projects,Costa Sur and a new plant in the north of the countryaswellas renewable energy projects to reach the generation of 600 megawatts,as required by the fiscal plan, are top priorities.

The amendments approved in January to the Public Private Partnerships Act allow the private sector to identify potential projects that can be developed through PPP, which in addition to the projects identified by the agencies, will be discussed at the Puerto Rico Summit 2017 this Thursday and Friday in The Convention Center of Puerto Rico.

In addition to these, the agencies submitted about 80 projects in several municipalities that were not originally contemplated by the government and will be presented on the first day of thesummit.

On the other hand, Laboy said that the Department of Economic Development and Commerce is constantly receiving different proposals to be developed through the PPP model, mainly in the area of ​​infrastructure, so it works in coordination with the Authority of Public Partnerships Private to boost them.

'We believe that the PPPs will have a very important role to inject private capital and revive the construction industry,' said Laboy.