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THE
Philippine government approved the extension of Asian
Terminals Inc.’s (ATI) cargo handling contract, allowing
the company partly-owned by Dubai Ports World to manage
and develop the Manila South Harbor for nine more years
after 2013.
PPA
general manager Oscar M. Sevilla told reporters last
week that the port operator promised to spend some $350
million to further develop the South Harbor through
2022.
The
amount is in addition to the $250 million that the
company promised to spend for port development when the
PPA awarded the South Harbor contract in 1992. This
includes the P400 million seven-story PPA Building,
which is still under construction.
The
company has to spend some $150 million for its original
contract, which was endorsed exactly one year after ATI
and the PPA sat down to discuss the possibility of
extending the first contract.
“It will
not anymore go through the approval of the Office of the
President,” Sevilla said, refusing to divulge additional
details about the company’s port development programs.
While
the original agreement covered the construction of a
world-class passenger terminal building, the development
of container yards, among others, the new contract may
include expansion of the container yard towards the
southern portion, instead of the original plan to
reclaim portions in the facility’s northern part. The
contract extension also covers conversion of the south
side berths of Pier 9 into a container berth with
ship-to-shore cranes.
The
phased developments will ensure efficient handling of
container cargoes in the South Harbor as throughput
volume increases during 2005 and 2022.
Earlier,
Sevilla said that the port body did not demand too many
projects from the port operator since PPA itself has
reneged on some of its promises indicated in the first
contract.
Although
the PPA allowed ATI to dock some of its vessels along
the Engineering Island in the Baseco compound, it was
later awarded by the government to informal settlers.
The port
agency also promised ATI that it can use Pier 15 as an
international facility which later ended up being a
domestic terminal.
The
company began running the South Harbor in 1991 as a
result of a government-instigated three-way merger
resulting in ATI being the surviving entity. ATI also
manages the domestic terminal of the Batangas Port and
the Mariveles Grains Terminal in Bataan. |
