BCDA yields to demand for spur road’s exit, entry

Chairman Abaya tells mayor about approval of request

By FRED ROXAS - Manila Bulletin

MABALACAT, Pampanga — Yielding to popular demand, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) has assured the municipal government here that ingress and egress will be provided at the McArthur Highway portion of the Mabalacat-Clark Spur Road.


Mabalacat Mayor Marino "Boking" Morales said BCDA Chairman Narciso Abaya called him last Friday and assured him that the ingress and egress at the McArthur Highway portion of the Mabalacat-Clark Spur Road will be created, provided that the funding for the construction of the Mabiga exit will come from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

In return, Morales said he will assist the BCDA and DPWH in getting "right-of-way" at the exit and entry points in Barangay Mabiga.

Morales has been fighting for the creation of the Mabiga exit in anticipation of the development that would come about in the area once the multi-million-peso Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway becomes operational.

Morales had also fought for the creation of the Dau exit in the past in a bid to pump-prime the business area of Barangay Dau, which is considered as the business district of Mabalacat.

He had sought the help of President Arroyo on the controversial Mabiga exit, and the latter, in turn, had asked Edgardo Pamintuan, chairman of the SubicClark Area Development Council (SCAD), to pursue the creation of the ingress and egress points of the Mabalacat-Clark Spur Road.

Arroyo had assured that the vital link to the multi-million-peso Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway Project (SCTEP) will be constructed in an effort to develop the open areas in Barangay Mabiga.

Morales thanked President Arroyo for her action. "Mahal na mahal ng Pangulong Arroyo ang kanyang mga kabalen," he said.

He had earlier threatened to stop construction of SCTEP unless the BCDA pursues its plans to build the Mabiga exit of the Mabalacat-Clark Spur Road.

Morales said the construction of the Mabalacat-Clark Spur Road had been stopped by the Japanese construction firm Hazama-aisei-Nippon Steel Joint Venture and its sub-contractors for no apparent reason.

"The BCDA is reneging onits commitment to construct the vital road, Mabalacat-Clark Spur Road, including the plan to create an ingress and egress points," the mayor said.

"If BCDA does not construct the ingress and egress points of the Mabalacat-Clark Spur Road, we woould be compelled to stop construction of the SCTEP because there is also possibility that other connecting roads and bridges promised in Concepcion would not be constructed," he said.

Morales had earlier ordered the immediate stoppage of the construction of Mabalacat-Clark Spur Road in Mabiga after changes had been made in its original design and Hazama’s failure to secure necessary permits.