by Jenniffer B. Austria
[ manilastandardtoday.com ] August 22, 2011
A consortium led by San Miguel Corp. and the Consunji group plans to open half of the 88.5-kilometer Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway to the public by November next year.
DMCI Holdings president Isidro Consunji said the first phase of the project covering a 44-kilometer stretch from Tarlac to Carmen in Pangasinan would be partly operational. The Tarlac-Gerona stretch would be operational by April while the Gerona-Carmen phase would open in November 2012.
The second phase covering 44.5 kilometers from Carmen to Rosario in La Union will be completed by 2014.
The consortium has obtained a term credit facility worth P11.5 billion from a syndicate of banks led by Banco de Oro Unibank to build the project. Other participating banks are the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines and the Land Bank of the Philippines.
The proponent of Tarlac-La Union is Private Infra Dev Corp., an all-Filipino group composed of San Miguel through unit Rapid Thoroughfares Inc., DMCI Group and D.M. Wenceslao & Associates Inc.
The project is expected to cut travel time from Manila to Baguio to three hours from the present six hours at an average speed of 80 kilometers per hour.
Meanwhile, DMCI may also join Metro Pacific group in bidding for the P1.8-billion Daang Hari-SLEX Road Project, one of the infrastructure projects under the Public-Private Participation programs of the Aquino administration.
Consunji said the company was in talks with Metro Pacific to be part of the group that will bid for the project.
The project involves the construction of a four-kilometer, four-lane toll road from Daang Hari in Bacoor, Cavite to SLEX near the Susana Heights interchange, passing through the New Bilibid Prison Reservation.
The project will provide an alternative route from Cavite to Metro Manila, aiming to increase the competitiveness of the Southern Luzon region as an investment destination. The road project will reduce travel time from Daang Hari to the Alabang interchange and decongest traffic in some parts of Cavite, Las Piñas and Muntinlupa.
The Daang Hari Road connects Las Piñas to neighboring Bacoor town, Muntinlupa City, and San Pedro town in Laguna.
The public works and highway department earlier said interested bidders must submit all qualification documents on September 19.
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