The P374.5-billion Mass Transit System Loop will pass below the Manila Golf Club in Makati City, a senior government official said.
Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Executive Director Cosette V. Canilao clarified, however, that the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Manila Golf Club are still to come up with an agreement.
She said the contract approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Investment Coordination Council (ICC) indicated that the subway project will pass through the 26th Avenue in Bonifacio Global City.
“But it might change in the Neda Board. The DOTC is in talks with them, and they know the plans for the project. There’s continuous discussion with Manila Golf,” Canilao said.
She said technical advisors from her agency assured that the project will not have adverse effects on the ground above the subway.
“If it will be felt on the surface, our technical advisors assured that engineering solutions will be used for it not to be felt above,” the PPP Center chief said.
Manila Golf Club, she noted, “is open” to the prospect.
“The dialogue is still continuing,” Canilao said.
The project, along with six others, is tabled for approval of the Neda Board next month.
Earlier Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said his office is considering two options in constructing the subway, either below the 32nd Avenue or the 26th Avenue in Bonifacio Global City.
The latter is a better option, Abaya has said, as it passes through McKinley and Ayala. However, the mass-transit system will have to pass through the premises of the Manila Golf Club, thus the need for a compromise agreement.
The Mass Transit System Loop will connect the fast-developing Bonifacio Global City, Makati Central Business District and the Mall of Asia area in Pasay City. It will improve intercity linkage by providing a higher-capacity public transportation system that would facilitate fast and convenient mobility of goods and services.
The mass-transit project also intends to address the high volume of vehicular traffic traversing in these major business districts. The 12-kilometer railway line will have 11 stations—two are elevated, five are underground and four are interchanges.
The project is one of the key infrastructure deals of the Aquino administration.
The government aims to sign at least 15 contracts before President Aquino bows out in 2016.
Bloomberg News, PNA