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Monday, December 08, 2003
Rehab of Panay Railways to begin January
By Jay Dooma Balnig
THE groundbreaking rites for the Panay Railways rehabilitation project will take place in January.
This was confirmed by House Speaker Jose de Venecia, who was in Iloilo City Sunday to grace the birthday celebration of Rep. Raul Gonzalez Jr. at the Jaro covered gym.
Both congressmen are the main proponents of the railway rehabilitation project which connects the provinces of Iloilo and Capiz.
Along with the Department of Transportation and Communication, De Venecia signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with a foreign consortium to undertake the project which became controversial after Gonzalez claimed that it will make the proposed airport of international project in Sta. Barbara-Cabatuan "irrelevant."
Senate President Franklin Drilon, a major backer of the airport project, also said that the rehabilitation of Panay Railways is a least prioritized project.
Residents of areas affected by the project especially in the cities of Iloilo and Roxas are opposing the project.
Project profile
A report of the Philippine News Agency (PNA) said the consortium of Siemens, Systra and Voestalpine Schrienen GMBH got the approval of DOTC and congressmen during the presentation of the project on Oct. 14.
Records of Panay Railways Inc. show the project is estimated to cost 358.90 million euros or about P20 billion.
It includes the amount for civil works, P122.70 million; rolling stock, P119 million; consultancy, P55.20 million; engineering, P23.20 million and miscellaneous P38.80 million.
PNA said among the possible sources of fund are the Official Development Assistance (ODA) of Germany, KFW-Hermes in France, COFACE in Austria (OeKB) and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Majority of the fund will be taken from the Medium Term Yen Commercial Credit Facility of the ODA and the balance from Export Credit Agencies. Meanwhile, the BIE will cover part of the project's civil works costs.
Proponents said the project is seen as the sole viable alternative to road transportation with ridership forecasts of 42,338 passenger daily at the highest estimate. It could also carry 63,992 tons of cargo everyday.
The construction period will run from 2006 to 2008 and the operation will start in 2009. This would include three phases with phase I to include construction of railways from Iloilo down to Roxas city. Phase II is the construction of the railway from Roxas City to Kalibo and Phase III is from Kalibo to Caticlan, the gateway to Boracay island.
(December 8, 2003 issue)
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