Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. expressed hope the new government will expedite the approval and award process of infrastructure projects to stimulate the economy.
“With the incoming administration, we hope that the bottlenecks in terms of awarding of projects will be addressed that we can have new projects that have in the economic recovery,” Rodrigo Franco, president and chief executive of MPTC, said in a forum organized by Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines.
“Unlike in our Indonesia business, we have actually have a number of projects in the pipeline that are ready to start. But, right now in the Philippines, we don’t have a healthy project pipeline,” he said.
MPTC Group’s proposed projects that have yet approved by the government include the P92-billion NLEX-CAVITEX Port Expressway Link, the P71-billion C5 Expressway Project and the P16-billion Harbor Link Port Access Mobility Facility Project.
Franco said most of the group’s major infrastructure projects would soon be completed despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Right now, we are about to complete most of our big projects, but unfortunately we don’t have any projects that are about to start construction,” he said.
MPTC expects to complete the P31-billion new expressway in Cebu province by February next year, while the España Boulevard section, or the first 5 kilometers of NLEX Connector, will be completed by first quarter next year.
The next 3-km elevated section between España Interchange and the vicinity of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Sta. Mesa, Manila is expected to commence construction within the year.
MPCALA Holdings Inc. expects to complete the entire 45-kilometer Cavite-Laguna Expressway by early 2023.
CALAX is a P56-billion road infrastructure project granted by DPWH to MHI, a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. It is a high-speed road network connecting the provinces of Cavite and Laguna, aiming to serve around 45,000 motorists upon completion.