07/18/2009 [ tribune.net.ph ]
Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza has turned over to Albay provincial government P85-million to bankroll the construction of the proposed Albay international airport which, Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said, would catapult the entire Bicol region in the international tourism map.
Mendoza turned over the funds to Salceda in ceremonies witnessed by Daraga Mayor Cicero Triunfante, Camalig Mayor Irwin Baldo, and officials of five barangays of the two towns straddled by the airport.
Experts say the majestic Mayon Volcano, which erupts once in three or five years, will not pose a threat to the operations of the airport.
Mendoza said the works on the Bicol International Airport would start shortly and set its completion 30 months hence.
Upon its completion, the Bicol International Airport will "catapult the tourism potentials of Albay, serve as anchor for modern business platforms and as a fulcrum for spatial integration of Albay and neighboring Sorsogon province into one common economic market," according to Salceda.
Salceda broached the Bicol International Airport idea four years ago when he was still a congressman and chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations.
As incumbent Albay governor, he now chairs the Bicol Regional Development Council which has unanimously advocated the construction of the proposed airport.
As a modern airport in Southern Luzon, it would conveniently link Bicol to the rest of the country and the world, said Salceda.
Albay found the fair price of P28 per square meter for the site, through proper consultations with the communities involved, and without the participation of schemers, according to Salceda. Neither did government resort to expropriations proceedings to get the land at an equitable price, he added.
PNA
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