Japan gov’t to fund SCTEX extension to Aurora

The Japanese government has pledged to provide funding for the construction of the Subic-Clark Expressway extension to this province.

Sen. Edgardo Angara said the change in the government of Japan from former Prime Minister Taro Aso to PM Yukio Hatoyama has not altered the Japanese government’s position regarding the SCTEX-Aurora extension project.

“That’s the good thing about Japan. They will change their leaders but not their economic policies and directions,” he said.

Angara noted that Aso earlier committed to finance the SCTEX extension from La Paz, Tarlac to Rizal, Nueva Ecija and to Aurora to effectively cut travel time from six to four hours.

He said Aso made the commitment during President Macapagal-Arroyo’s state visit to Japan last June where the senator was part of her official delegation. During the meeting with Mrs. Arroyo and Angara, Aso even remarked that the extension project would extend “all the way to the constituency of Angara in Aurora.”

The 93.77-kilometer, four-lane SCTEX is considered as the country’s longest expressway, envisioned as a backbone of development in Central Luzon. A flagship project of the Bases Conversion Development Authority, it runs through the provinces of Bataan, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales and interconnects three major Central Luzon economic zones, namely Central Techno Park in Tarlac, Clark Freeport Zone and Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

Once extended to the province, it would be interconnected to the Aurora Special Economic Zone in Casiguran, Aurora. By: Mamer Bañez - Journal online