BCDA declares availability of P22-B fund for Subic-Clark-Tarlac tollway

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — The finance department of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) has finally issued a certificate of availability of funds, the final requirement to facilitate the long-delayed release of the P22-billion 93.77-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac tollway.

But full blast work on the tollway, which would be the longest in the country when finished, cannot start until three to four months from now pending the completion of a geographical survey now being done by its Japanese contractors, BCDA vice president for operations Antonio Rex Chan told The Star yesterday.

Chan said the certification means that the P18-billion soft loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the 15 percent project cost counterpart of the Philippine government are now available for the project.

"The certification means that cash is now available from both JBIC and BCDA, and there’s no more reason why the project should be delayed," Chan said.

He added that the BCDA has already obtained loans from Banco de Oro and the Development Bank of the Philippines to come up with almost P5 billion needed for the 15 percent counterpart fund from the government as required by law.

"The foreign loan has an interest of only .9 percent annually and is payable in 40 years," Chan said. The P18-billion loan for the project was allocated by the JBIC from its Special Yen Loan Facility way back in December 1998. The loan was firmed up during the visit of President Arroyo to Japan in 2001.

The project has been divided by the BCDA into two packages, one project extending from Subic to Clark and the other from Clark to Tarlac. They are to be implemented by the Japanese firms Kajima Joint Ventures Inc. and Hasama Joint Ventures Inc. which are now conducting a survey in the areas to be traversed by the tollroad from the Subic Freeport through the Clark special economic zone and winding up at the Luisita economic zone in Tarlac.

Chan said the length of the tollroad was based on an earlier survey conducted by the local firm FF Cruz, but the result of the survey is now being reviewed by the Japanese contractors.

He denied reports that changes have been made in the pathways of the tollway reportedly to accommodate a prominent Makati-based business clan which has allegedly been buying up properties in areas to be traversed by the project, particularly in the Subic area.

The tollway project is expected to open up huge foreign investments by linking up the major economic zones in Central Luzon, as well as airports and seaports north of Metro Manila.

" The BCDA has already spent some P600 million for acquisition of properties to be traversed by the toll road which Mrs. Arroyo identified earlier as a vital component of her administration’s 10-point agenda to transform the Clark and the Subid as a competitive hub in Asia.

The tollway will have four lanes through Subic, Clark and Tarlac and will provide a main transportation network that would facilitate human and cargo transport in Central Luzon.