02/14/2009 [ tribune.net.ph]
Government has allocated P100 million for the construction of a two-kilometer access road between the national highway and the terminal complex of the proposed Bicol International Airport (BIA) in preparation for the full implementation of the flagship project.
Engr. Eduardo Talastas, chief of the planning division of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) regional office in Legazpi City, said the amount has been incorporated with the funds of the agency under the 2009 General Appropriation Act (GAA).
“We expect to get a go signal from our central office for the start of the implementation of this project before the end of the first quarter of this year when the GAA recently passed by the bicameral conference of Congess is finally enacted,” Talastas said.
The road, a first class structure, would connect the BIA terminal complex in Barangay Alobo, Daraga, Albay with the Maharlika Highway two kilometers away, Talastas said.
This air transport facility would further improve the performance of the region in tourism arrivals, employment generation and business investment, said Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, the main proponent of the airport.
Preparations for its construction are now in full-swing following the release last year of some P600 million for right-of-way and site acquisitions, feasibility studies and other pre-implementation requirements.
Salceda said completion of the construction component of the project is expected to come next year and it would be made operational as soon as all facilities and equipments required are put in place.
Talastas said the Department of Transportation and Communications is the main implementing agency of the project while the DPWH has been made in charge of its road requirements.
The P100-million road project will be implemented by private contractors required to utilize local labor as workforce, he said.
This scheme has been adopted by the DPWH regional office in an effort to open more employment opportunities for the local labor in response to the national government’s call for more economic activities in the countryside, Talastas added. PNA
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