The Philippine Department of Transportation (DOTr) has set aside for now unsolicited proposals to establish new air hubs, saying its current focus is short-term measures to address congestion at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and to improve Clark International Airport (CRK).
DOTr Undersecretary for Aviation Capt. Manuel Antonio Tamayo said the unsolicited proposals submitted by All Resources Reclamation Corp. (ARRC) and San Miguel Corp. (SMC) are still being considered, but “it’s not immediate” and “more of a medium term.”
ARRC, together with partners Belle Corp. and China Communications Construction Co., submitted a proposal to build an airport, a seaport, and a mixed-use development in Sangley Point, Cavite.
SMC, on the other hand, is proposing to build an airport city in Bulacan.
Tamayo said, however, that DOTr and attached agency Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) still intend to develop Sangley Airport.
He said DOTr will be spending P600 million to P700 million to develop Sangley, which does not include reclamation or a seaport, so that the airport can accommodate general aviation aircraft and turboprop, whose operations will be removed from NAIA.
DOTr is also setting aside unsolicited proposals to develop CRK.
The group of GMR Infrastructure Ltd. of India and Megawide Construction Corp. is proposing to develop CRK over a period of 50 years to enable the airport to handle up to 100 million passengers annually.
Another proposal, this time by JG Summit Holdings Inc. and Filinvest Development Corp., is to develop the Pampanga hub over a period of 50 years to handle up to 36 million passengers annually.
Tamayo said the focus now is the construction of CRK’s passenger terminal.
DOTr has already released P6.6 million, representing the first tranche of funds from the P2.8-billion total budget for the terminal project. The initial fund will be used to hire consultants who will assist airport management in approving the project’s terms of reference (TOR) for detailed engineering and design (DED).
The second tranche, worth P161.7 million, is allocated for bidding of consultancy services for the DED and project management services.
DOTr was allocated P800 million and P2.09 billion under the 2015 and 2016 General Appropriations Act, respectively, for the launch this year of CRK project’s first phase.
The first of four design phases, the construction of a new Clark airport terminal for domestic and international travelers is included in CIAC’s master development plan. The terminal, envisioned to have a passenger capacity of eight million annually, is expected to be finished before the current administration’s term ends.
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