Monday, June 30, 2008 [ manilatimes.net ]
By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
FIRST Philippine Holdings Corp. wants a 10-year contract for the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), despite lower vehicle traffic on its initial operations.
“Yes. Well its logical to extend the contract. [But] it all depends on the BCDA [Bases Conversion Development Authority]. It’s their call to extend the contract,” Oscar Lopez, First Holdings chairman told The Manila Times on the sidelines of the ABS-CBN Corp. stockholders’ meeting last week.
Last year, BCDA awarded the O&M contract for SCTEx to a joint venture of three companies composed of First Holdings, Egis Road Operation, and Tollways Management Corp.
The contract stipulates a six-month period, renewable for a maximum of another six months. The services include functional requirements for the efficient operation of the toll road, such as toll collection, traffic safety and security management, road maintenance, including greenery and landscaping, management services, and all necessary support services.
Lopez said vehicle traffic at SCTEx is light, but the volume is expected to pick up. “It [SCTEx] will save you time whether you are going south or north. Unfortunately the one going north is not yet open,” he said.
SCTEx is known as the country’s longest expressway, and is envisioned to transform the surrounding into a super region that would attract investors worldwide through the integration of all economic activities in the Subic Freeport and Special Economic Zone the Clark Special Economic Zone, and the Central Techno Park in Tarlac.
The 93.77-kilometer, four-lane highway is divided into two major sections. The first section, the Subic-Clark stretch is 50.5 kilometers long, while the Clark-Tarlac section measures 43.27 kilometers.
Narciso Abaya, BCDA president and chief executive officer, admitted in a telephone interview that the projected revenue at the SCTEx has fallen short by 25 percent, adding the actual daily average revenue is P550,000.
“We expect higher revenue[s] next month, once the Package 2 is finally open to the public,” he said.
Abaya said the toll operator charges P2.20 per kilometer for class A vehicles, P4 for class B, and P6 for class C.
“We are up beat on the initial traffic. Initially its low but, based on our study, we only achieved 75 percent,” he said.
The SCTEx started commercial operations on April 28.
The construction of the SCTEx was funded by a P21-billion loan from the Japanese government through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. The BCDA also secured a standby P2.5-billion credit facility from local banks to ensure construction of the project.
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