Publicly-listed Philippine Infradev Holdings Inc., formerly IRC Properties Inc., said Tuesday it posted a $350-million performance bond for the construction of a 10-kilometer underground railway project in Makati City.
The performance bond, representing 10 percent of the project cost, was a pre-condition for Tuesday’s signing of the joint venture agreement between Philippine Infradev Holdings and the local government of Makati City.
Makati Mayor Abby Binay and Philippine Infradev Holdings chairman Ren Jinhua signed the joint venture agreement for the $3.5-billion subway project. Ren is a Chinese investor who serves as a director of Mingly China Growth Fund Co. Ltd. and chairman of Sinobase International (HK) Co. Ltd. Philippine Infradev received the green light to proceed with the subway project after the firm hurdled a 60-day competitive Swiss Challenge and obtained the approval of the Makati City council.
The $3.5-billion Makati City Subway, to be known as MkTr, is touted as the biggest public-private-partnership project for a local government unit.
Philippine Infradev president and chief executive Antonio Tiu earlier announced the completion of a six-month soil testing along the proposed alignment of the 10-kilometer intracity subway system with no adverse findings.
Philippine Infradev expects the railway system to start operations by 2025.
Binay welcomed the project, saying it would benefit the people of Makati and even non-Makati residents as it would connect key points and cut travel time within the city.
She assured there would be no cash out from the city government. The Makati government would only contribute land that it currently owns and which will be used in the subway system, she said.
The proposed subway would connect key points such as the current central business district at the corner of Ayala Ave. and Sen. Gil Puyat Ave., Circuit City, Makati City Hall, University of Makati, Ospital ng Makati and other new growth areas within the city.
The subway will have up to 10 air-conditioned, underground island stations. It can accommodate up to six-car trains, with room for over 200 persons per car. Once completed, it will serve more than 700,000 passengers per day.
Makati’s intra-city subway is seen complementing the national government’s mass transport projects as it would be connected to the proposed Metro Manila Mega Subway project, MRT 3 stations and the Pasig River ferry system.
The tunnel boring machine from China is expected to arrive by December this year to start the construction of the project.