Gov’t urged to tap private funds for major infrastructure projects
The head of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) has called on agencies tasked to implement the key public works projects outlined by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in her state of the nation address last June to tap private resources in concretizing those projects.
PCCI President Donald G. Dee said that local investors are only waiting for specific ground rules on how they can get involved in government construction projects using their own funds.
Strategic infrastructure projects that need immediate work were identified by participants to the National Competitiveness Summit last October and even trimmed down into just 20 must do projects during the recently held Philippine Business Conference, Dee said.
So far, of the many projects lined up to boost economic growth in Luzon, only the Subic-Clark-Tarlac expressway is being built, the business leader pointed out.
PCCI had pinpointed projects that need to be completed as soon as possible which do not need public funds like the linkup of the metropolitan light railway system between the end of the Metro Railway at North Avenue in Quezon City to that of the original LRT in Caloocan, the extension of both the north and south expressways and the bidding out of major ports starting with the North Harbor.
The first move must be to clear the legal obstacles for private investors to start moving or making offers, Dee stressed. The North Harbor, for example, must be bid out to two competing port developers. As the nerve center of domestic sea traffic, modernization of the port serves a high- long-term impact on domestic manufacturing and the speedy movement of people and goods.
In the case of the expressways, the Philippine National Construction Company (PNCC) needs the renewal of its expiring franchise from Congress to get the mandate to resume expansion and extension of both the south and the north expressways.
In the 2006 business conference, business leaders identified 20 specific must-do projects that involves mostly private sector investments. On road networks, one of the top priorities will be the extension of the North Luzon and South Luzon Expressways.
As originally planned, the North Luzon Expressway is to be extended up to Carmen, Rosales in Pangasinan, while the SLEX was master-planned to extend up to Lucena City in Quezon Province. NLEX stops like a dead-end with narrow exits near the Clark Special Economic Zone in Pampanga while the SLEX reaches only Calmba in Laguna.
A task group on infrastructure that mapped out the further development of both highways had identified several phases of work to link both superhighways, and extend their reach to pave the way for the dispersal of industries from the nerve center of Metro Manila further to the southern Luzon area and up north at the other end of Luzon.
The first project suggested by business leaders was for the implementation of SLEX Toll Road 1 project that will include the repair of its viaduct and its extension from Alabang to Laguna, and under toll road project 3, further extension of the highway to Sto. Tomas, Batangas.
Then, the two highways will be linked directly via theC5 highway crossing the metropolis.
At the northern side of Luzon, the tallway was planned to initially extend to extend up to the to Carmen, Rosales in Pangasinan then further north to the foot of the Marcos highway in La Union.
It is recalled that both tollways were built by the forerunner of the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) under the late strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos during martial law. No new major arterial road in Luzon was built since then.
This lack of fast-lane roads has limited the dispersal of industries from Metro Manila to only the Bulacan and Pampanga north of Manila and Cavite and Laguna to the south. — Abe P. Belena, PHILEXPORT News and Features
PCCI President Donald G. Dee said that local investors are only waiting for specific ground rules on how they can get involved in government construction projects using their own funds.
Strategic infrastructure projects that need immediate work were identified by participants to the National Competitiveness Summit last October and even trimmed down into just 20 must do projects during the recently held Philippine Business Conference, Dee said.
So far, of the many projects lined up to boost economic growth in Luzon, only the Subic-Clark-Tarlac expressway is being built, the business leader pointed out.
PCCI had pinpointed projects that need to be completed as soon as possible which do not need public funds like the linkup of the metropolitan light railway system between the end of the Metro Railway at North Avenue in Quezon City to that of the original LRT in Caloocan, the extension of both the north and south expressways and the bidding out of major ports starting with the North Harbor.
The first move must be to clear the legal obstacles for private investors to start moving or making offers, Dee stressed. The North Harbor, for example, must be bid out to two competing port developers. As the nerve center of domestic sea traffic, modernization of the port serves a high- long-term impact on domestic manufacturing and the speedy movement of people and goods.
In the case of the expressways, the Philippine National Construction Company (PNCC) needs the renewal of its expiring franchise from Congress to get the mandate to resume expansion and extension of both the south and the north expressways.
In the 2006 business conference, business leaders identified 20 specific must-do projects that involves mostly private sector investments. On road networks, one of the top priorities will be the extension of the North Luzon and South Luzon Expressways.
As originally planned, the North Luzon Expressway is to be extended up to Carmen, Rosales in Pangasinan, while the SLEX was master-planned to extend up to Lucena City in Quezon Province. NLEX stops like a dead-end with narrow exits near the Clark Special Economic Zone in Pampanga while the SLEX reaches only Calmba in Laguna.
A task group on infrastructure that mapped out the further development of both highways had identified several phases of work to link both superhighways, and extend their reach to pave the way for the dispersal of industries from the nerve center of Metro Manila further to the southern Luzon area and up north at the other end of Luzon.
The first project suggested by business leaders was for the implementation of SLEX Toll Road 1 project that will include the repair of its viaduct and its extension from Alabang to Laguna, and under toll road project 3, further extension of the highway to Sto. Tomas, Batangas.
Then, the two highways will be linked directly via theC5 highway crossing the metropolis.
At the northern side of Luzon, the tallway was planned to initially extend to extend up to the to Carmen, Rosales in Pangasinan then further north to the foot of the Marcos highway in La Union.
It is recalled that both tollways were built by the forerunner of the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) under the late strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos during martial law. No new major arterial road in Luzon was built since then.
This lack of fast-lane roads has limited the dispersal of industries from Metro Manila to only the Bulacan and Pampanga north of Manila and Cavite and Laguna to the south. — Abe P. Belena, PHILEXPORT News and Features
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