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Friday, August 19, 2005
Bases conversion office seeks mayors' support for speedy completion of SCTEP
By Albert B. Lacanlale
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO - The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) recently said the growing support of local government officials for the on-time and on-budget completion of the 93.7-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway Project "has boosted the chances of its completion by the original target date."
Among the local government officials strongly supporting the project are Dinalupihan, Bataan Mayor Joel Jaime Payumo and Mayor Genaro Mendoza of Tarlac City, Tarlac.
Mayor Payumo said the expressway will impact positively on the residents of Dinalupihan because of increased accessibility. "More products and agricultural produce will be disposed from our town easier and faster. At the same time business opportunities will be enhanced because of increased mobility of people," he added.
The town of Dinalupihan is noted for the production of sawali, torches, tinapa or smoked fish and agricultural-based food and non-food products. Most of its population of 70,000 is dependent on agriculture, poultry and livestock raising for their main source of livelihood.
Mayor Mendoza of Tarlac noted that the project will help alleviate the worsening traffic conditions in the highways along their town. "For many years, we have been under the threat of lahar every time the rainy season comes. Transportation to and from Tarlac, Tarlac is really impossible. What a relief it would be once this expressway is completed because we will have an alternate route," Mendoza said.
The expressway is slated to be finished by the end of 2007 at a cost of P21 billion. It will connect the industrial, transport and business hubs of Subic, Clark and Tarlac.
The project is a major component of the Global Gateways Initiative. BCDA president and CEO Narciso Abaya said it is an important anchor of the 10-point program of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as part of her vision for the development of Central Luzon and the rest of the country.
BCDA vice president for operations Antonio Rex Chan said the planned expressway will pass through Angeles City, Mabalacat, Porac and Floridablanca in Pampanga, Tarlac City, Bamban, and Concepcion in Tarlac and Dinalupihan and Hermosa in Bataan.
Included in the 93.7-kilometer main expressway is the construction of four major bridges over the Pasig-Potrero River, Porac River, Gumain River and the Sacobia-Bamban River.
Chan pointed out "when this expressway is completed, it will be comparable to the best quality toll expressways in the region, if not the world. At the same time, we will make sure that toll fees will be affordable to all road users."
He added that the P21-billion project will link not only the seaport facilities in Subic and the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport and logistics facilities in Clark, but provide access to other major economic players in the region. Among these are the Bataan Technology Park and the province of Tarlac.
"The expressway will trigger the growth of the entire Central Luzon," Chan pointed out. It will also provide the shortest, most direct access and most efficient link to the four economic zones," Chan added.
The economic zones include the Subic Bay Freeport and Special Economic Zone, the Morong Special Economic Zone in Bataan, the Clark Special Economic Zone, and the Central Techno Park in Tarlac.
Funding for the project is provided through a 41.931 million Japanese Yen soft loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).
(August 19, 2005 issue)
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