Skyway project all set

The long delayed continuation of the second phase of the skyway project connecting Bicutan to Alabang is all set as all domestic procedures have finally been completed.

In a chance interview,  Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Peter B. Favila said “all domestic procedures are okay.”

The Indonesian firm Citra Metro Manila Tollway Corp. finished the Buendia to Bicutan stretch of the skyway project several years back. The stage two has been delayed because of the relatively slow traffic volume of the existing phase coupled with financial troubles of CITRA’s parent company in Indonesia following the collapse of the Suharto government.

In March, President Arroyo said the Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC) ratified the joint investment proposal with CITRA for phase 2 of the skyway project.

A month later, Favila announced CITRA has 30 days upon the issuance of the notice to start stage two of the Skyway project or else the contract will be forfeited. Nearly four months after the statement, CITRA has yet to start the 9.9-kilometer toll road.

A Chinese firm has volunteered to continue stage two and stage three of the road project but CITRA invoked its original contract perfected during the administration of former President Fidel V. Ramos. The contract gives CITRA the option to finish the entire road project.

Favila said the government had no choice but to honor the contract but gave CITRA a deadline to proceed with the project. “They really have to work on it,” Favila stressed.

On March 21, Mrs. Arroyo said  PNCC would proceed with the extension of the Metro Manila Skyway project stretching from Bicutan to Alabang in Muntinlupa City.

The president pointed out that the completion of the Skyway extension project would offer a more convenient travel for people, facilitate the movement of goods, and further spur business and development in other areas in the Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon (CALABARZON) growth area.

The Skyway project, an overhead motorway along the South Luzon Expressway, is one of the priority projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the CALABARZON area under the President’s 10-point agenda.