Delay in airport project seen

MANILA, Philippines - The Cabinet reshuffle is likely to cause a delay in several priority projects of the Arroyo administration including the P2.5-billion expansion of the Caticlan airport in Aklan, Gov. Carlito Marquez said.

Phase 1 of the project was originally scheduled for completion before President Arroyo’s term ends this June. It is being undertaken by its private proponent, the Caticlan International Airport Development Corp. (CIADC), to accommodate bigger aircraft.

Under the plan, the contractor will remove the hill on the eastern part of the existing airport and expand the runway to meet the standard requirement for an international airport. 

The project is being opposed by certain groups who claim that it will cause an irreparable damage to the environment the plan calls for a leveling of the hill and extending the runway to the sea.

Being questioned is the use by the project proponents of an environmental clearance certificate (ECC) issued in 2006 by then Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes for the provincial government’s simple upgrade of the airport complex and not for the present development plans as envisioned by CIADC.

Dr. Ric Javelosa, of DENR’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) claimed the ECC is not based on the present development plans of CIADC and its  international airport because nowhere does it mention anything about levelling the hill and extending into the sea. 

He said the effects of these two environmental issues are “precisely why an ECC is issued in the first place.”