Angeles City, Pampanga—Engineering and infrastructure developer Megawide Construction Corporation is supporting the government’s ₱27.1-billion spending plan for everyone affected by the coronavirus pandemic as the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon is extended.
Following a recent pronouncement by the Duterte administration that the government’s infrastructure program will meet its target completions for the year despite the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Megawide said it will continue to some PHP20 billion worth of contracts in the next two years, including the completion of the new passenger terminal in Clark, Pampanga that will help decongest Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
“We’re supporting the government’s plan to provide targeted and direct programs to guarantee that benefits will go to Filipino workers and other affected sectors,” said Megawide Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Edgar Saavedra. “ We’re also fully behind the government’s continuation of the flagship “Build, Build, Build” program that might have stopped at the moment, but will be the lynchpin of the economy’s recovery when the corona virus crisis ends.”
Aside from the Clark airport project, Megawide said it is eyeing a combination of office buildings, infrastructures throughout the country, including railways and road projects.
The company, together with its partner GMR Infrastructure Ltd. of India, is ahead of schedule in constructing the Clark International Airport’s new passenger terminal building prior to the imposition of the community quarantine in Luzon, Saavedra said.
“That we were ahead of schedule in the construction of the new Clark passenger terminal building is a testament to all the hard work and dedication of the people on the ground such as our engineering and construction teams,” he averred.
Saavedra said construction of the new terminal, access roads, bus station, and car parks is 96 percent complete with only minor works remaining.
“The ECQ has minimal impact on our construction timelines for Clark International Airport primarily because engineering and construction are Megawide’s core strengths and the fact that we leveraged on what we learned from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) expansion,” he explained.
The new terminal is designed to increase the capacity of the airport from 4 million passengers to 12 million passengers a year.