Administration to roll out $10-B Sangley airport plan With only 18 months to go before changes in government leadership take place, the Aquino Administration is bent to roll out its grand plan to construct a $10-billion international airport in Sangley Point, Cavite City. Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is scheduled to complete and submit its feasibility study on the proposed new airport in Sangley Point by mid 2015. “JICA is finishing the feasibility study. They are supposed to give it to us on June,” Abaya said. “Then we go to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to get its approval. Hopefully, we can bring it up to NEDA by July,” he added. To recall, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has adopted the recommendation of JICA to build the country’s new international gateway in Cavite. Based on JICA’s site-selection study, Sangley Point emerged as the best choice among seven locations given its catchment area, navigation risk, natural hazard risk, and accessibility. However, reclamation is needed to construct a four-runway hub in Sangley. According to Abaya, the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) is also conducting a pre-feasibility study on the reclamation component of the project. “Realistically, the first thing there will be a reclamation,” Abaya pointed out.” You build a platform where the airport will be built on. PRA is helping out on that aspect.” The new airport in Sangley is seen to be among the game-changing infrastructure projects that the Aquino Administration will pursue during its remaining days in power. However, construction of a new international airport usually takes between seven to 10 years to complete starting from the bidding of the contract. Abaya disclosed that the government will no longer entertain the unsolicited proposals of All-Asia Resources and Reclamation Corporation (ARRC) and San Miguel Corp. (SMC) to build new airports in Sangley Point and on reclaimed land on Manila Bay, respectively. “For such a huge facility, we are better off conducting open transparent bidding than (adopting an) unsolicited proposal and subject it to Swiss challenge,” he explained. To recall, the idea of building a new international airport came about after NAIA was seen to hit its maximum capacity by 2018 or 2020. According to a 2011 JICA study, annual passenger forecasts for the Greater Capital Region, which covers the National Capital Region and Regions 3 and 4A, will rise from 49.8-million in 2020 to 75-million in 2030, shooting up to 106.7-million in 2040. In 2012, total traffic recorded in the region was already at 31.879-million. To meet these expected volumes, the DOTC has identified two viable options, both of which will involve the expansion of Clark International Airport (CIA), as well as the development of a new international airport in Metro Manila. The two options differ insofar as the fate of the NAIA is concerned. The government has two options under the DOTC’s Gateway Airport Roadmap towards 2040: either it will close NAIA by 2030 and replace it with a new international airport in Manila that will complement the operation of CIA or to let NAIA operate up to 2040 or beyond to co-exist with the two other airports as international gateways. NAIA is currently the only international gateway of the country. The government earlier planned to transfer the international gateway to CIA since the physical limitation of NAIA prevents it from expanding to meet the rising volume of passengers. But the plan to privatize NAIA was postponed after the Aquino Administration considered the option to implement a dual-gateway system, utilizing both NAIA and CIA as international gateways of the country. Although the government is yet to make the final decision, Abaya said adopting a single or dual gateway system as a policy is secondary to the building of infrastructure. “Definitely CIA will have more access and facilities. Eventually you will see NAIA continuing to exist while Sangley is slowly developed to meet passenger growth. So whether it is single or dual gateway system, as long as you have the facility, the setting of the policy is just secondary,” he added. -admin JB mb.ph/administration-to-roll-out-10-b-sangley-airport-plan/
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 21:19:05 +0000
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