MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino is hopeful the ongoing negotiations between the government and Takenaka Corp. could be concluded this month to make the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City fully operational.
Speaking to reporters last Wednesday when he inspected NAIA-3 in preparation for the influx of passengers during the long All Saints’ Day weekend, Aquino acknowledged that the airport has limitations because the facility is not fully operational. He cited the air conditioning units that were only partially completed.
The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), previously under Secretary Manuel Roxas II and now run by new DOTC chief Joseph Emilio Abaya, had continued the negotiations with Takenaka Corp., the original contractor of the project, to immediately complete the airport and make it 100-percent operational.
“Negotiations have been lengthy and instead of going to court that would mean endless litigation, here we have a chance at settlement to have complete use of NAIA-3,” Aquino said in Filipino.
Aquino said 23 systems in the airport have not yet been completed.
The DOTC and Takenaka signed a memorandum of understanding in Japan last March.
The move was seen as the first legal step to complete NAIA-3, which has been operating below maximum capacity since it opened four years ago.
The Philippine International Air Terminals Co. contracted Takenaka to build NAIA-3 in 1998 but work stopped in 2002 over allegations of anomalies.
Under the MOU, Takenaka would complete the 23 airport systems critical to NAIA-3’s full operations by the end of the year or early 2013.
These systems include fire alarm and protection system, flight information display system, building management system, local area network, baggage handling and reconciliation system and passenger loading bridges.
The government is expected to spend $45 million for the installation and rehabilitation of the 23 systems at NAIA-3, according to the DOTC.