P10-B contracts inked for Misamis airport

Transportation and Communications Secretary Lean­dro Mendoza recently signed two contracts worth almost P10 billion for the construction of the proposed Laguindingan airport in Misamis Oriental that will replace the current Cagayan de Oro-Lumbia airport as the lead gateway in Northern Mindanao.

In a statement, the Department of Transportation and Communications said Men­doza signed a contract worth about P4.992 billion with Hanjin Industries Construction Co. Ltd. of Korea for the construction of the Laguin­dingan airport.

The DOTC chief also signed a supplemental P4.869-billion contract with Yooshin Engineering Corp. which will serve as consultant and provide “construction supervision” in the airport project.

Mendoza said the contracts will jumpstart the construction of the Laguindingan airport, which will serve the provinces of Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, and Cami­guin.

When completed, the airport in Laguindingan, a major growth area in Mindanao, “will rev up the (local) economy, facilitate air travel safely, generate considerable revenue, and promote commerce and tourism,” he said.

The main civil works will involve the construction of a runway, new passenger terminal, air traffic control tower and operations building, a cargo terminal building, and other structures.

The airport project will be funded by a tied loan from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund of Korea, the Export-Import Bank of Korea and the Nordic Investment Bank with a counterpart from the Philippine government.

Being a tied loan of the Korean government, only Korean companies were allowed to take part in the bidding for the airport project.