Wednesday, October 10, 2007 Officials tackle Tarlac-NE-Aurora expressway project
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Presidential Assistant for Central Luzon Relly Fajardo recently vowed to work with the Advocacy for the Development of Central Luzon (ADCL) and the local government units concerned on the proposed Tarlac-Nueva Ecija-Aurora Expressway.
Fajardo, a former mayor of Palayan City and an advocate for Central Luzon’s development, had a luncheon meet with the members of ADCL, particularly the ADCL-Nueva Ecija Chapter led by Vicky Gaetos, also the president of the Nueva Ecija Chamber of Commerce and Industry, last October 8 at the Herbs and Greens Restaurant in Telabastagan, City of San Fernando.
After a brief presentation of the proposed expressway, Fajardo requested ADCL to seek endorsements and resolutions from the local government units and non-government organizations concerned so she could endorse the project to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo soon.
Fajardo said the expressway from Tarlac to Dingalan Bay in Aurora was already approved by the President based on the original design of the Global Gateways.
She, however, welcomed the new proposal to include the road component to Baler, Aurora so as to simultaneously develop Baler as a gateway to the North Philippines, particularly in the provinces of Quirino, Cagayan, Nueva Viscaya, Isabela and others.
Fajardo also said it would be better for ADCL to also support the full development of the Palayan City Airport which is inside Fort Magsaysay. This is on top of ADCL’s proposal to develop Baler airport and the seaports of Dingalan and Baler.
Gaetos, ADCL-Nueva Ecija chairman, said being the lead group advocating for this expressway, they will seek endorsement from the Nueva Ecija Provincial Board (PB) and will closely work with the team of Fajardo.
“This expressway is vital for the over-all development not only of Nueva Ecija but the whole of Central Luzon. We can promote Baler as a tourist destination and Dingalan as an economic hub,” Gaetos said.
Earlier, Senator Edgardo Angara also vowed to support the same proposal. In a series of meetings with Angara, ADCL officers led by its president Renato Tayag Jr. presented the proposed expressway that will be connected to the last section of Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) in Lapaz, Tarlac.
“The senator is very excited on this project. He is planning to visit Clark in November to meet with the ADCL core group. He believes that the expressway will also be a gateway to other northern provinces like Quirino, Cagayan and Isabela,” Tayag said.
Tayag, also the ADCL co-chairman for infrastructure development, said since SCTEx will be open to the public in due time, it would be ideal to start building a new expressway that would cut down travel time to Aurora province.
He also said in accordance with the National Government’s plan to make Clark, Subic and the rest of Central Luzon a true logistics hub, it is important to develop the needed infrastructure linking these freeport zones to the country’s east coast, that is in Aurora, where another seaport could be developed to accommodate cargo coming from the Pacific Ocean area, particularly the US and Canada.
The ADCL president explained the importance of linking the east coast (Pacific) and west coast (China Sea) using Aurora and Subic seaports. The Aurora Expressway, which will traverse from Aurora to Palayan City and Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija to Lapaz, Tarlac, will connect to SCTEx. Travel time from Aurora to Tarlac will be cut down from eight hours to one hour at the minimum. (ABL)
