Road project worth P1-B unveiled

GABALDON, Nueva Ecija – The construction of the proposed 88-kilometer proposed highway from Montalban (Rizal) to Dingalan, Aurora will soon be underway through the build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme at a cost of P1 billion.

Romeo Roxas II, vice president of the Green Circle Properties and Resources, Inc. (GCPRI) told The STAR that their company will finance the highway project.

He said that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is now surveying the areas for the proposed highway and will take charge of processing all the documents, including right-of-way problems.

Roxas said that the proposed Montalban-Dingalan highway will span a 65-kilometer road from Montalban to the port-related industrial city in Barangay Umiray and 20 kilometers from Umiray to the Dingalan Port.

The project is included in the proposed Pacific Coast Cities (PCC) project which is being pushed by Roxas and his father and namesake, lawyer Romeo Roxas.

The Roxases own the 1,000-hectare scenic property at the Taal Volcano Ridge in Tagaytay and who are deeply involved in property development in the country in joint ventures with other companies.

Considered their biggest project, however, is the development of the PCC, a master planned industrial, educational and resort cities community in the companies’ 80,000-hectare property in the Eastern Luzon Seaboard provinces of Aurora and Quezon.

The 20-year development plan for the PCC involves the construction of an airport, seaport, resorts and residential, commercial and industrial areas.

The proposed PCC, which is located 80 kilometers from Manila, will spur economic growth on the Pacific coast and relieve pressure on Metro Manila. It will make new lands available for settlement, create an efficient new center of commerce and government and generate new industries.

Aside from the Montalban-Dingalan highway, also being proposed are the 80-kilometer coastal road running from Infanta, Quezon to the proposed University city stretching to a 37-kilometer route to the Dingalan Port and a proposed 34-kilometer major road from the Marikina-Infanta highway to the Coastal Road.

The PCC was declared a Special Economic Zone and Tourism Estate in January 2000 through Presidential Proclamation 233 issued by then-President Estrada which designated certain areas in Barangay Umiray, Dingalan, Aurora and Dingalan in Gen. Nakar, Quezon to collectively make up the new PCC.

Transportation, telecommunications and other facilities needed to attract legitimate and productive foreign investments will be provided in the area.

The PCC will cover five phases of development involving the creation of independent growth centers, expansion of water-oriented resort, a road link from Manila to Sierra Madre mountains and completion of a rail link from Maniola to the proposed Dingalan Port. – Manny Galvez