DOTC pursuing infra projects

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said it will be pursuing more transport infrastructure projects this year in line with the development of super regions as ordered by President Arroyo.

Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza said that priority will be given to programs that will decongest Metro Manila and improve the country’s civil aviation, road transport, railway and maritime transport networks.

In a recent development, Mendoza said the Philippine National Railways (PNR) has already expressed its agreement in principle to allow the use of its 4.58-hectare property along Samson Road in Caloocan City as a satellite depot for the priority Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) I interconnection project.

The DOTC earlier identified the MRT-LRT connection project as one of its top priorities with the aim of decongesting Metro Manila and facilitate commuter conveyance from Monumento in Caloocan City to Edsa in Pasay City, as well as connect the MRT 3 to the Northrail.

Six foreign and local companies have already expressed interest in participating in the bidding for the interconnection project.

The $503-million Northrail will run from Caloocan City to Malolos City in Bulacan province and is being put on the fast track by the government.

The DOTC said more than 30,000 families occupying tracts of land where the rail line will be built in Manila and Bulacan have already been relocated.

Also topping the DOTC list of priority projects is the Rail Linkage project – formerly called the Southrail project. It involves the rehabilitation of the 34-kilometer section of the PNR line from Caloocan City to Alabang in Muntinlupa City.

"Vastly improving our transportation networks is a cornerstone of the government thrust to further improve the economy through commerce, industry and tourism," Mendoza said.

"The bottom line of all these (projects) is the delivery of public service providing the foundations of economic growth," he added.

Other projects on the DOTC priority list include the development of new airports, such as the Iloilo airport, which is 97 percent complete and is scheduled to begin operation in April.

Mendoza also said the DOTC has completed the upgrading and rehabilitation of runway 13-13 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

The expansion of the Diosdado Macapagal Airport’s passenger terminal building in Clark, Pampanga is also nearing completion and the upgraded facility will open in September, he added.

In Zamboanga, the construction of the Zamboanga Airport runway overlay is 90 percent complete, he said.

Also underway are expansion and construction projects at the country’s seaports to expand the roll-on-roll-off (Ro-Ro) nautical highway, a network of inter-island transport vessels and strategically located seaports throughout the archipelago.

"Transportation plays a major role in the socio-economic development of the country," Mendoza said. "Through the DOTC, the government aims to continuously improve, develop and promote the Philippines’ transportation network and services to connect both local and international markets and the countryside." – Rainier Allan Ronda