PSIREN

  The PSI Subregional Trade Union Forum on ADB Energy Policy and Projects (Nov 20-21, 2010) aims to provide a forum for PSI electricity unions to exchange information about their campaigns related to ADB/IFI-supported power sector reforms and initiate a subregional campaign platform.  A total of 21 participants (4F, 17M) attended the workshop.

The 42nd ADB Board of Governors Annual Meeting (AGM) was held in Bali from 2-5 May 2009.

Contents: Background;  PSI/GUFs agenda in Tashkent;  PSI/GUFs activities in Tashkent;  May 1  Meeting with ADB President Kuroda;  PSI speaks at May 2 Forum on Women Empowerment;  May 3 PSI/GUFs Forum on “Workers and Unions in ADB Operations”;  PSI gives ADB ‘Very Poor’ score in Madya Pradesh power project;   May 1-4  Meetings with country delegations; Recommended next steps from PSI/GUFs wrap-up session.

Contains: PSI’s position on public sector reforms (New Public Management; Privatisation, PPP, PFIs; Outsourcing or contracting out; Cost-cutting budget constraints; Performance pay and performance management); Other modes of PSR (Decentralization; Separation of Policymaking and Service Delivery; Emergence of e-government; Job losses, austerity measures due to global economic crisis); World Bank review of PSR; Reasserting the public in public services;  ADB-supported PSR in power, water, health, education sectors; Union actions in PSR

ADB report shows the impacts of ADB's assistance to the state of Madhya Pradesh since 1999 in fiscal consolidation and sectoral reform programs and investments in energy, urban infrastructure (e.g., Madhya Pradesh Urban Water Supply and Environmental Improvement Project, Indore Water Supply Project), and transportation.
Impacts of MP power sector reforms include reported achievements in:
 -       restructuring of the vertically integrated MPSEB into six successor companies

New Delhi, June 23, 2010 (ANI): Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Dr. Farooq Abdullah, called upon Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other multilateral agencies to considerably step up their support to renewable energy projects in developing countries.

West Seti Hydroelectric Project (WSHP) involves the construction and operation of 750-MW hydroelectric power plant on Seti river in far western region of Nepal on BOOT basis for 30 years. Project sponsor is Australian-based Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (SMEC); West Seti Hydro Limited (WSHL) is 100% subsidiary of SMEC. Construction will be by China Machinery & Equipment Import and Export Corporation under lump sum price turnkey contract signed in April 2005; construction period is for 5 years.

 
Tracking Progress in Asia and the Pacific - Success Factors for Reform Measures:  To provide real insight into the policy process, empirical observations on the status of national water sectors and sector reform need to be structured. A model of process of reform is needed to guide data collection and analysis, ensure systematic and consistent treatment of information, and provide the ability to explain, predict and manage the process. After an extensive literature review, the study adopted nine parameters as the key factors that influence reform.

The Mananga River rehabilitation project involved the construction of the 79-meter high dam including transmission lines and a water treatment plant. It was aimed at increasing water supply for Cebu, the Philippine's second largest commercial and industrial centre.  It was expected to yield an additional 100,000 cu.m. of water per day for Metro Cebu upon its completion in 2007. Mananga River is in Barangay Maghaway, Talisay.  In 1995, Malaysian firm Johan Holdings Bhd first proposed to undertake the project under the build-operate-transfer (BOT).

Results of the ADB-funded twinning program between Metro Cebu Water District / Philippines (the 'recipient' twin) and City West Water / Australia (the 'expert' twin): 
 

PSI Toolkit on ADB

Excerpts of ADB Evaluation Study (Oct 2009) – “Bangladesh – Energy Sector”: 
 

Excerpts of Sep 2009 ADB review: The project is a 'Loan and Complementary Financing Scheme' -- On 12 November 2003, the Board of Directors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved (i) a loan of up to $40 million from ADB's ordinary capital resources, (ii) a proposed loan under the ADB's complementary financing scheme (CFS) of up to $100 million in favor of commercial lenders, and (iii) a political risk guarantee (PRG) in favor of commercial lenders to BLCP Power Limited (BLCP) for the BLCP Power Project (Project).
 

30 September 2009 - Climate change poses fundamental threats to Asia's food and energy security which, if left unchecked, will result in an upsurge of migration into already overburdened mega cities, according to three major new studies funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).