Vital infra project to start by end-Sept

The P1.7-billion rehabilitation of the Alabang Viaduct and the extension of the South Luzon Expressway to Sto. Tomas Batangas are expected to start by the end of September as the Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC) bids out the project by the middle of next month.

Finance officials said the project, when completed, would improve the chances of attracting investors when PNCC is finally privatized before the end of the Arroyo administration.

Finance Undersecretary Eric O. Recto said the PNCC is already preparing the bid documents for the project and the actual bidding has been tentatively scheduled for the middle of September.

He said the project was made critical by the component that required the immediate rehabilitation of the Alabang Viaduct which has been closed to large vehicles for years.

"What is critical is that the viaduct remains standing and doesn’t crumble," Recto said. "Without it, it is hard to see how the extension of the SLEX could be useful in clearing up the path from Manila to the south."

The project is to be funded by the PNCC out of a loan from the National Development Co. (NDC), the state investment arm, under a build-lease-own scheme where PNCC will build and then lease the facility.

Recto said the NDC has not released the loan to the PNCC but will do so once it is satisfied that "everything is in order".