MPIC unit allots P6 B for 5.54-Km Cavitex-C5 link

MANILA, Philippines - Cavitex Infrastructure Corp., a unit of infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), is ready to invest P6 billion for a road that would connect the 14-kilometer Manila Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) and the Circumferential Road 5 (C-5).

In an interview with reporters, Cavitex president and chief executive officer Jose Luigi Bautista said the company is now finalizing the alignment of the 5.5-kilometer road project with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

 â€œWe are in discussion with the DPWH as far as the alignment of the C-5 link is concerned. As soon as that is fixed with DPWH, we will develop the detailed engineering design,” Bautista said.

He pointed out that the company is looking at finalizing the road project and getting the approval within the next three months.

The proposed road would cross the South Luzon expressway and pass through Merville Subd. beside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) connecting to the Cavitex.

“The cost is about P6 billion. It’s a 5.5-kilometer expressway,” he added.

According to him, the project is being financed by MPIC. The Cavitex feeds into and from Roxas Boulevard in the city of Parañaque in Metro Manila in the north and connects to Tirona Highway along the north coast in Kawit, Cavite in the south.

However, Bautista said the company has decided to shelve the proposed Kawit to Noveleta segment otherwise known as segment 5 due to questions about the viability of the project.

“Right now the traffic numbers are not good so we are deferring that a bit,” he explained.

According to him, the proposed segment 5 would be affected by the P35.4 billion Cavite-Laguna expressway (CALAX) that is under the public private partnership (PPP) of the Aquino administration.

The DPWH has given the four prequalified bidders until April 21 to submit their technical and financial proposals.

The four bidders for the 47-kilometer closed-system tolled expressway include the Ayala-led Team “Orion”, MPIC’s MPCALA Holdings Inc., Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc. of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC), and Malaysia’s Alloy MTD Philippines.

Cavitex sees the company’s revenues increasing 10 percent to P1.1 billion last year from P1 billion in 2012 as average daily traffic reached 102,000.

For this year, Bautista said the company is looking at as slower growth of between five percent and seven percent due to the construction of the NAIA Expressway link by SMC.