Takenaka agrees to repair NAIA-3
The Japanese firm that built the
Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager Alfonso Cusi said talks with Takenaka Corp. have yielded very positive results.
“Our technical working group is holding meetings with them. Basically, they want to proceed with the work,” he told The Star.
MIAA assistant general manager for airport development and corporate affairs Tirso Serrano said more than a dozen top executives of Takenaka are now in the country.
He said MIAA technical teams, consultants, and representatives are now working with them in four separate groups with respective tasks to complete.
If all goes well, Serrano said NAIA-3 might finally open its doors to the public, at least partially, by mid-2008.
He explained that the four working groups have been tasked to separately look into the structural integrity issue, the testing and commissioning aspect of the repairs to be made, the Construction Works Agreement (CWA), and the timetable.
“(These developments) are very positive. They are here physically, their managing director who is head of global operations and head of delegation is here,” Serrano said.
“Their construction managers, overseas division general manager, senior advisers and other executives are here meeting with our technical people and our own world-renowned consultants from TCGI Engineers Inc. and the Ove Arup & Partners HK Ltd. We welcome them and the idea that NAIA-3 will soon be operational for the benefit of the Filipino people,” he added.
Serrano said the MIAA is doing its part in keeping communication lines open pursuant to President Arroyo’s instructions to expedite NAIA-3 construction works.
MIAA officials sat down with Takenaka executives, led by managing director and delegation head Atsuyoshi Suzuki, as soon as they arrived in the country Monday.
The NAIA-3 was supposed to open its doors as the country’s most advanced airport terminal last March but structural problems found by engineers who inspected the building prompted airport officials to cancel it in the interest of public safety.
Takenaka, who earlier refused to take responsibility, is now moving towards repairing the facility’s beams, girders, post-tension slabs, columns and piles, which were found to be defective and weak.
NAIA-3’s vehicular access ramp foundations were also declared unstable and unsafe unless remediation works are conducted to strengthen them.
Built in 2002, the $650-million terminal was supposed to outshine other airport terminals with its advanced design and equipment.
It has 28 airbridges that can service 28 aircrafts at the same time, a four-level shopping mall that connects the terminal and parking buildings, a parking building with a capacity of 2,000 vehicles, an outdoor parking area with a 1,200-vehicle capacity, and with the capability of servicing 33,000 passengers daily at peak or 6,000 passengers per hour.
It also has 70 flight information terminals, 314 display monitors with 300 kilometers of fiber optic cables, 29 restroom blocks, and five departure areas equipped with X-ray machines.
In her 2007 State of the Nation Address (SONA) last month, President Arroyo called on the MIAA to exert all efforts to have the world-class terminal operational at the soonest possible time.
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