EXPRESSWAY operator Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) is ready to start constructing the P55.9-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) anytime soon, pending the assurance the second package of easement will be delivered before it finishes the first section of the thoroughfare.
Rodrigo E. Franco, the company’s president, said his group has received “bits and pieces” of right of way from the public works department, and is eager to start the construction phase of the road.
“We can start any time, but what we are trying to avoid is starting and stopping again,” he said. “We just want to calibrate it to make sure when we start, it continues for some time.” He said his group is looking at receiving an area sufficient for the company to work on for the next six months.
“For us, we are also looking at something that we can start to work on, but at the same time, when we complete that portion, there is continuation,” he said.
This, Franco said, means two segments of the right of way must be delivered to the group—or at least, an assurance the second section will be delivered within the construction period of the first phase.
“We just want an assurance we have the second segment. The first section, which is 7 kilometers in length, can start construction soon,” he said.
The section Franco is referring to is found at the Laguna portion of the road. DM Consunji Inc. was tapped for the construction of the road in Laguna.
The company is still in talks with Eton Properties Philippines Inc. for the construction of the Cavite portion.
“We are negotiating with Eton. We have not yet signed a contract. So far, the negotiation is on going,” Franco said.
Calax is a 47-km thoroughfare that will link the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway and the South Luzon Expressway. It aims to enhance trade and socioeconomic activities in the region.
MPCALA Holdings Inc., a unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., won the bidding for the deal in 2015.
Under the terms, the company will take on the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the entire four-lane toll road for 30 years to 2050.
The project will also include the construction of centralized toll plazas, a toll-collection system, viaducts and bridges.
MPTC is the largest toll-road operator in the Philippines. Its portfolio of expressways include the North Luzon, the Subic-Clark-Tarlac, the Manila-Cavite Toll and the future Cebu-Cordova Link Expressways.
It also has significant interests in thoroughfares outside the Philippines, namely in Thailand and Vietnam.