THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is transferring control of the Batangas Port access road to the Department of Public Works and Highways with or without toll collection recommended by the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC). JBIC funded the project.
PPA assistant general manager Claro Maranan, in an interview,said the agency has already drafted the memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the transfer and will schedule it for PPA Board approval next year.
JBIC earlier recommended the development of a toll mechanism structure before the road is transferred to DPWH, the government agency responsible for the maintenance of the country’s road networks.
Maranan said such a measure is, however, the responsibility of DPWH as it has to connect the one-kilometer port access road to the 22-kilometer Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR). The latter exacts a toll from users.
Maranan said the DPWH will have to decide whether it will increase the toll for the entire STAR Tollway due to the new access road or levy a separate fee for those using the express lane to Batangas Port alone.
The STAR Tollway Project was also funded by JBIC and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Its operator is South Luzon Tollways Corp, a joint venture between Philippine National Construction Corporation and MTD Manila Expressway Corp., a subsidiary of MTD Capital of Malaysia.
The PPA was to have signed the transfer MOA with DPWH last October but this was postponed as a result of the JBIC recommendation. The MOA’s salient points are also still being studied by both the lender and PPA.
The P336-million Batangas port access road and flyover are part of Phase II of the Batangas Port development project. Its other components are the P5.7-billion marine and civil works under Package 1, and the P126-million supply and installation of passenger boarding bridges completed on September 2001 under Package 2.
