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Sunday, October 02, 2005
Solon says railway project to push through
By Lizanilla J. Amarga
THE $520 million Mindanao Railway System is now gathering grounds as more foreign investors recently intimated their desire to construct this project, said Misamis Oriental Congressman Augusto Baculio, Jr.
Baculio said this include the master plan grant from the government of Germany, the regulating framework for the project and agreement with Austria for a Philippine National Railways Academy.
"We are doing our best to push for the realization of the project despite budget constraints," the congressman said Saturday.
Already, The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) reported that Germany and Saudi Arabia have announced its intentions to invest a whooping P18 billon for the construction of the Mindanao Railway.
"Germany will invest 220 million Euros or P15.4 billion while Saudi Arabia will lend $40 million and donate another $10 million or a total of P2.705 billion," the report reads.
The investment would partly finance the 83-kilometer Cagayan-Cotabato Phase of the project that would link the cities of Iligan, Cagayan de Oro, Gingoog, Marawi and Cotabato by 2008.
The project is expected to benefit 60,000 to 90,000 commuters in the Iligan-Cagayan de Oro "industrial corridor" daily.
Germany-based Siemens would provide 12 trains with speeds of 80 to 150 kilometers per hour.
Earlier, Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. led a delegation to visit the railway firm in Austria.
The delegation was composed of Baculio, Janette Garin, Ferjenel Biron, Monico Puentevella, Rolex Suplico and Philippine Ambassador to Austria, Victor Garcia III.
The group visited the railway steelworks of Austrian company Voest-Alpine Stahl Donawitz Co. GmbH in Leoben, Syria.
A memorandum of agreement (MOA) was signed by DOTC and the Austrian Bundesministerium fur Verkehr, Innovation and Technologie (BMVIT).
According to the agreement, the Austrian government would provide the Philippines with knowledge and technology in the railway industry and help establish another Philippine National Railways Academy.
It also calls for the intensification of the scientific, academic and cultural relation between the two countries specifically in the area of railway development.
The MOA would also pave the way for Austria to identify the contractor for the construction of railway tunnels, as well as supply the rails and switches for the network.
(October 2, 2005 issue)
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