PORAC -- Porac Quarry Association (PQA) president Mike Tapang asked the Pampanga Provincial Board (PB) Monday to see for itself first the feasibility study on proposed Megadike Toll Road before disapproving it.

The feasibility study will be presented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and technical experts.

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"The PQA is humbly asking the PB to wait for the formal studies. We would be very much willing to sit down in a committee hearing to discuss the proposal which we think will help the quarry industry and motorists in Pampanga," Tapang said, adding that it would be fair to let the proposal reach the PB first before any judgment is made by members of the legislative body.

Earlier, Tapang and his group submitted a proposal to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the conversion of the 15-kilometer western lateral portion of the Megadike from Porac to Bacolor into a toll road, an alternate route that will cater to truckers and other motorists.

Arroyo has already asked newly appointed Public Works Secretary Victor Domingo to put the unsolicited proposal to the "Swiss Challenge," to entice would-be financier or "takers" of the proposed structure, which will be built through build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme.

Under the BOT law, unsolicited proposals are subject to Swiss challenge, a method used to ensure that the government gets the best possible deal.

Under the scheme, the government invites competitors to improve on the deal offered by the original proponent. Among the projects that undergone Swiss Challenge are the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 and the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 7 line.

The proposed toll road will occupy the unpaved west lateral portion of the Megadike from Sta. Barbara in Bacolor to Barangay Mancatian in Porac town.

A kilometer-long portion of this portion of the Megadike has been converted into an access road to and from the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx).

Some members of the PB, particularly Board Members Ricardo Yabut and Crisostomo Garbo, said the PQA's proposal "is not feasible and is in fact dangerous." They said the PB will not allow truckers to use the road and will not approve the proposal.

Tapang said that in his group's proposal, the toll road would have weighing scales to screen overloaded trucks and other security and safety measures to ensure motorists' safety during day or night travel through the road.

"We would like to clarify that the toll road will feature weighing scales to prevent overloaded trucks from using it. If it is in fact unsafe, why then would the President allow the construction of the access road of the SCTEx in this town to be placed right on top of the Megadike? Aside from that, the East Lateral Portion of the Megadike has also been used for almost six years now by some truckers," Tapang said.

Tapang added that the West Lateral Dike have been used by quarry trucks Bacolor and nearby towns for 10 years now.

He urged the board members to hear the comments of technical experts on the feasibility of the project.

Meanwhile, Yabut seems to have had a change of heart and told Sun.Star Pampanga Monday that he is willing to conduct committee hearings on the said project once the proposal reaches the PB.

Another board member, who refused to be named, said the PB has not acted on any toll road proposal, as there has not been any proposal forwarded to the PB.

"I am asking our fellow board members to distinguish to the media any comments that they make in their personal capacity. It would be unfair to other board members that statements made by a few or even by board member staffs would be taken as official position of the whole Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Board)," the board member said. (Ian Ocampo Flora)