Cavitex hikes cost of C5 link to P8 B

MANILA, Philippines - Cavitex Infrastructure Corp., a unit of infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), raised the cost of a proposed toll road that would connect the Manila Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) and the Circumferential Road 5 (C5) by P2 billion.

Cavitex president and chief executive officer Jose Luigi Bautista said the proposed C5 link would now cost P8 billion instead of the original cost of P6 billion and would now stretch seven kilometers instead of 5.5 kilometers.

“We have decided to incorporate the cost of the ramps,” he said.

He pointed out that the company intends to complete the engineering design of the proposed toll road by November to pave the way for the start of construction by January next year.

The first phase of the project involves the construction of a flyover across the South Luzon expressway (SLEX) up to E. Rodriguez in Sucat while the second phase will be the road from Sucat all the way to Cavitex.

The alignment of the project has been approved by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Bautista explained that the company is awaiting the green light from the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) so that the project could be submitted to the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) for approval.

Discussions with PRA, he revealed, involves the revenue sharing for the project.

 “After it is approved by PRA, we will go to TRB to present the project,” he said.

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.

According to Bautista, 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.

Cavitex earlier decided to shelve the proposed Kawit to Noveleta segment otherwise known as Segment 5 due to questions about the viability of the project.

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 diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC).

 “There are challenges this year because there are going to be the construction of the NAIA expressway. Expectedly traffic will decrease as motorists will tend to avoid the traffic especially at the corner of Cavitex and NAIA,” he added.

MPIC through Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) invested P6.77 billion under a financing and cooperation agreement with Cavitex Holdings Inc. in December 2012.