Posted on March 25, 2014 10:49:16 PM [
BusinessWorld Online ]
SAN MIGUEL Corp., the Philippines’
most diversified conglomerate, plans to present a proposal to the government
soon to build a $10-billion airport in the capital, its president said on
Tuesday.
Ramon S. Ang confirmed in a text
message a Nikkei report that the company was set to present its plan for an
alternative international airport in Manila next month.
The conglomerate, which also owns a
portion of flag carrier Philippine Airlines, announced last year its intention
to build a new facility to complement the aging Ninoy Aquino International
Airport (NAIA). It delayed the plan pending questions on state policy on
airline companies operating airports.
Any unsolicited infrastructure project
proposal -- like the one San Miguel plans -- subject to state scrutiny and must
first be presented to President Benigno S. C. Aquino III, Transportation
Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said.
Upon the president’s approval, it is
then subjected to a Swiss challenge where other bidders are asked to compete
for the project, with the original proponent allowed to match the best
proposal.
Mr. Abaya said the government, with the
help of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is also studying the
possibility of converting a former US Navy base at Sangley point in
southwestern Cavite province into an alternative international airport. He said
its location, just 20 minutes away from Manila, makes it ideal.
The Sangley airport project is part of
a P2.3-trillion ($51-billion) transportation infrastructure plan JICA has
presented to the government. The plan also involves building subway and rail
networks.
“The NAIA is already getting
saturated, there is no more time,” Shizuo Iwata, project manager at JICA, said
in a phone interview in Manila regarding the $9-billion airport project
component of JICA’s “Dream Plan.”
The plan is awaiting approval of an
interagency committee chaired by Mr. Aquino.
According to the Nikkei report, San
Miguel plans to build an airport with four runways at an 800-hectare property
within the metropolis under a build-operate-transfer scheme. Ownership of the
facility will be turned over to the government after 25 years.
That will be double the 400-hectare
lot currently occupied by NAIA, which, with its single runway, exceeded its
maximum annual capacity of 30 million passengers last year, according to the
Transportation department. -- Reuters
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