[ Malaya.com.ph ] September 9, 2009
Local consortium Cagayan Land Property Development Corp. (CLPDC) has bagged the P1.66-billion international airport development project in the Cagayan Freeport.
Jose Mari Ponce, CEZA administrator and chief executive officer, and CLPD president Basilio Rodriguez yesterday signed the joint venture agreement for the development of the international airport in San Mariano-Dagupan, Lallo in Cagayan.
Under the plan, construction will start this month and will be finished within one year.
The CEZA international airport will cater to locators, visitors and tourists in the freeport and will be the primary point of entry of both local and international visitors and investors not just to Cagayan Freeport, but also to the whole country
The CEZA international airport will complement the Port Irene seaport, which is being developed as an international transshipment hub.
The project involves the construction of a 2,200-meter runway, with a width of 45 meters, following the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization. It will be designed to accommodate large aircraft such as the Airbus A319-100, which has a typical seating capacity of 134 passengers.
It will also include a terminal building covering a floor area of 1,000 square meters, paved apron and tarmac that can accommodate two aircraft simultaneously, and a control tower.
Under the joint venture agreement, CEZA will invest P691 million or 41.7 percent of the total equity while its private partner CLPDC will contribute the remaining P966 million or 58.3 percent.
CLPDC, established in 2008 as a developer of real properties, is compose of CAMJ Construction Inc., 46 percent; LR Land Developers Inc. 50 percent; TCGI Engineers, 2 percent and Asesores y Consultores Aeronauticos S.L., 2 percent.
CAMJ, currently authorized consortium representative, is the principal contractor for the development of the airport while TCGI Engineers is the project managers for the construction of the airport.
ACA, a Madrid-based company specializing in all aspects of the aeronautical industry, will manage the operations of the airport once it is finished. Prominent in Europe and Latin America, ACA is into construction, airport operations, engineering, materials management, insurance and management. The company is prominent in Europe and Latin America. ACA will also be contracted to manage the operations of the airport.
LR Land Developers is a subsidiary of Leisure and Resorts World Corp. and a sister company of First Cagayan Leisure and Resort Group, will also contribute financial capital for the project. First Cagayan is proponent in the development of the gaming infrastructure in the Freeport zone.
In February 2009, CLPDC submitted an unsolicited proposal to CEZA for the construction of an international airport. From then, following the joint venture guidelines released by the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, CEZA started the process of JV selection.
As an investment hub, CSEZFP has become the preferred site of 86 foreign and domestic investors, of which 48 were already operational as of December 2008. These companies have committed to invest more than P13 billion.-Irma Isip
