THE Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (Oro Chamber) is reiterating its appeal to President Benigno Aquino III to defer the opening of the Laguindingan Airport in June 15. In its recent letter to Aquino, Oro Chamber president Efren T. Uy said if the rush opening of the Laguindingan Airport is due to the government’s loan obligation to the state-owned Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank), the Chamber believed that the government has the power to renegotiate with the bank to move the amortization schedule to a specified date wherein the Laguindingan Airport can operate efficiently and safely. “If it is about the government’s loan obligation to the Korea Eximbank, we firmly believe that the Philippine government has the power to renegotiate with the Korea Eximbank. According to Oro Chamber, the airport project was conceptualized as early as 1986 “and the government has managed, for over two decades, to convince the Korean Eximbank to extend the loan’s grace period,” Uy said. “What is a year of extending the loan repayment’s grace period if it will be for the sake of passengers’ safety and airport efficiency?” Aquino is set to visit Laguindingan in June 11 for the inauguration of the airport. The project is funded by the Economic Cooperation Development Fund (ECDF) of the Republic of Korea through the Korea Eximbank. The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) earlier invited more Korean firms to participate in the P557 million improvement of the air navigation system in the Laguindingan Airport. Thirty business organization in Northern Mindanao earlier expressed their appeal to Aquino to defer the opening to second quarter of 2014 when the air navigation and support services facilities (ANSSF) project is expected to be completed, tested and commissioned. Lino Lluisma, administrative assistant of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) here, urged everyone especially the business groups which have clamored for losses of business due to reduction of flights to be patient with the temporary inconvenience. “All of us are affected. The CAAP employees are also affected since we aren’t ready to relocate our houses near the airport. We never complained because we need to follow our mandate. Years later we will surely reap the fruits of the airport. Let us all be patient,” Lluisma said. Captain Harry Lero of the Asian Aerospace Inc. said the airport is safe and cleared the issue on safety and even assured it is comparable to airports of neighboring countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. Lero, on a test flight, landed on the Laguindingan Airport in April 23 on a dry run of the airport’s facilities. He said it can even accommodate a Boeing 747 aircraft as soon as it will be operational on June 15, 2013. “The airport is fantastic that has the long run-way wide. It is highly suitable for flights compared to the Lumbia airport because of its high elevation. Even during the rainy season it is always available to land small and big aircrafts since it is 190 feet above sea level,” Lero said. The airport is also equipped with its fire crash rescue unit which staff is highly trained and skilled to respond to emergencies.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 13:12:34 +0000
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