Lopez toll road firm allots P1b for ’07 expansion
"..will involve the construction of a 65.8-km road connecting Subic Bay Freeport to the expressway. "
The Lopez Group-led Manila North Tollways Corp. plans to increase its capital expenditure from P300 million to more than P1 billion this year, mainly to finance the extension of the 84-kilometer North Luzon Expressway to Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City by October.
Manila North Tollways, which is majority owned by First Philippine Holdings Corp. and Benpress Holdings Corp., holds the concession rights to operate the existing expressway (Phase 1) until 2030 and construct two extensions of the project.
The company has completed the $384-million expressway rehabilitation project, backed by financing from the Asian Development Bank and other multilateral lenders.
Phase 2 will run from C5 to Malabon while Phase 3 will involve the construction of a 65.8-km road connecting Subic Bay Freeport to the expressway.
In a news briefing organized by ADB and the National Economic and Development Authority, Manila North Tollways chief operating officer Rodrigo Franco said a large amount of the company’s capital expenditures for the year would kick start Segment 8.1 under Phase 2 of the expressway project.
Franco said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had identified Phase 2 as among the priority infrastructure projects this year. Also known as C5 Interconnection, Phase 2 is envisioned to be a 22-kilometer extension of the expressway that will stretch from the northern portion of C5 at the University of the Philippines to Malabon City.
A part of Phase 2 will be Segment 8.1, a two-km road from the expressway in Balintawak to Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City.
“We hope to start construction of this segment in October 2007,” Franco said. He expects the project to be completed in one-and-a-half years or until early 2009.
Franco said preparatory works on the high-impact Segment 8.1, including project design and securing of environmental clearance and other permits, were ongoing.
“We have been meeting with a lot of people in the executive branch of government, and they are supporting the project,” he said.
He said they were just awaiting the release of government funds, amounting to P1 billion, for the right-of-way before actual construction begins. The high land values in Quezon City and the presence of informal settlers in the project site have pushed up the right-of-way cost, he said.
Franco said the company intended to raise commercial borrowings this year to finance the project, which is estimated to cost P3 billion. “A lot of banks, both local and foreign, have already expressed interest in lending us,” he said.
The plan is also to start Segment 9, which will connect the expressway to Mc Arthur Highway in Valenzuela City this year, but the government has yet to start preparatory works for this segment.
“It makes a lot of sense to construct the two segments simultaneously,” he said.
By Roderick T. dela Cruz - Manila Standard Today
The Lopez Group-led Manila North Tollways Corp. plans to increase its capital expenditure from P300 million to more than P1 billion this year, mainly to finance the extension of the 84-kilometer North Luzon Expressway to Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City by October.
Manila North Tollways, which is majority owned by First Philippine Holdings Corp. and Benpress Holdings Corp., holds the concession rights to operate the existing expressway (Phase 1) until 2030 and construct two extensions of the project.
The company has completed the $384-million expressway rehabilitation project, backed by financing from the Asian Development Bank and other multilateral lenders.
Phase 2 will run from C5 to Malabon while Phase 3 will involve the construction of a 65.8-km road connecting Subic Bay Freeport to the expressway.
In a news briefing organized by ADB and the National Economic and Development Authority, Manila North Tollways chief operating officer Rodrigo Franco said a large amount of the company’s capital expenditures for the year would kick start Segment 8.1 under Phase 2 of the expressway project.
Franco said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had identified Phase 2 as among the priority infrastructure projects this year. Also known as C5 Interconnection, Phase 2 is envisioned to be a 22-kilometer extension of the expressway that will stretch from the northern portion of C5 at the University of the Philippines to Malabon City.
A part of Phase 2 will be Segment 8.1, a two-km road from the expressway in Balintawak to Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City.
“We hope to start construction of this segment in October 2007,” Franco said. He expects the project to be completed in one-and-a-half years or until early 2009.
Franco said preparatory works on the high-impact Segment 8.1, including project design and securing of environmental clearance and other permits, were ongoing.
“We have been meeting with a lot of people in the executive branch of government, and they are supporting the project,” he said.
He said they were just awaiting the release of government funds, amounting to P1 billion, for the right-of-way before actual construction begins. The high land values in Quezon City and the presence of informal settlers in the project site have pushed up the right-of-way cost, he said.
Franco said the company intended to raise commercial borrowings this year to finance the project, which is estimated to cost P3 billion. “A lot of banks, both local and foreign, have already expressed interest in lending us,” he said.
The plan is also to start Segment 9, which will connect the expressway to Mc Arthur Highway in Valenzuela City this year, but the government has yet to start preparatory works for this segment.
“It makes a lot of sense to construct the two segments simultaneously,” he said.
By Roderick T. dela Cruz - Manila Standard Today
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
6:29 AM
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