Wednesday, July 15, 2009 [ manilatimes.net ]
Metro Pacific to build Makati-NLEX Skyway
By Darwin G. Amojelar, Senior Reporter
METRO Pacific Tollway Corp.(MPTC) will construct a multibillion-peso Skyway from Buendia in Makati to North Luzon Expressway (NLEX). Ramoncito Fernandez, MPTC president and chief executive, said the company would build a 13-kilometer expressway on top of Philippine National Railway’s (PNR) railroad network leading to the expressway.
“We will use the right of way of PNR to build an expressway on top of it from Buendia to NLEX,” Fernandez said.
NLEX is the main artery that connects Metro Manila to provinces in the north.
The executive estimated that it would cost about P20 billion to construct the expressway that would cut travel time from the south to north by an hour.
“We’re looking at different sources of funds—ODA [official development assistance] and/or private financing to finance the project,” Fernandez said.
The SM Group is also eyeing to cash in on the PNR network as its affiliate, S.T. Best Inc., plans to build malls in each of the railroad stations.
Riqui Raymudo-Hizon, S.T. Best president, said the company is studying the company’s option regarding the size of the malls it can put up for every station.
“We would be covering all stations of PNR. The smaller malls would be managed by our company and the major malls would be by the SM Group,” she said.
Hizon said the company would use the right of way of PNR to construct the malls.
Meanwhile, Fernandez said he expects MPTC’s revenues and profits in the first semester to be better than last year.
MPTC, which manages the expansion, operation and maintenance of NLEX, is also looking to acquire the Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway (SCTex) from the government as well as the extension of the contract for its operation and maintenance.
The tollway unit of Metro Pacific Investment Corp. is operating the 93.77-kilometer, four-lane SCTex until June 2010. The first half of the highway measures 50.5 km from Subic to Clark while the second half is 43.27 km from Clark to Tarlac.
In the first quarter of the year, MPTC’s profit rose 5.8 percent to P312 million from the P295 million posted in 2008 due to the higher-than-expected traffic of 3 percent.
The company owns 67.1 percent of Manila North Tollways Corp. and 46 percent of the Tollways Management Corp.
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