SAY WHAT you will about the unconventional ways of the Duterte administration, but at least one conglomerate is happy about how things are moving along.
Six years after putting its proposal on the table, Metro Pacific Investment Corp.’s version of the connector road projectóan elevated tollway that will connect Makati City to the North Luzon Expressway looks finally set to get out of the starting gate.
Biz Buzz learned that MPIC (the local infrastructure arm of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co.) expects to receive the final go-ahead anytime this week from the Department of Public Works and Highways.
As soon as the Secretary [Mark Villar] gives his approval, the company is ready to break ground on the project, an MPIC official told Biz Buzz, adding that the officials of the Duterte administration seemed to be moving with a greater sense of urgency compared to the previous dispensation.
“Maybe it’s because they’re closer to the ground, so they can see things clearly and make faster decisions, unlike the previous guys who would send the issue all the way to the top, who would then come up with a [unprintable] decision,” the official added, clearly still smarting about the MVP group having been left out in the cold in the previous six years.
The good news is that, if MPIC finally gets the green light for the P15-billion project, the company brass believes they can complete a two-by-two lane tollway (slightly smaller than San Miguel Corp.’s three-by-three Skyway Stage 3 project) in as short as three years, compared to the original 5-year construction timeline.
If that happens, both elevated toll roads of MPIC and San Miguel may come online at the same time, finally offering relief to traffic weary Metro Manila commuters. For a fee, of course. Daxim l. Lucas
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