Entire 94-km SCTEx now open

MABALACAT, Pampanga – The entire 94-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), the country’s longest tollway, was opened to motorists at 12:01 a.m. today amid final estimates that it cost “slightly over P27 billion.”

Amid persistent conflict in reported figures, Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) chairman Narciso Abaya told The STAR yesterday that the civil works alone cost P21.4 billion.

If the P1.1-billion cost of the four interchanges now being rushed in the northern and southern parts of Clark Freeport and in Floridablanca and Porac towns in Pampanga is included, the entire civil works would amount to P22.5 billion, Abaya said during a tree-planting activity here to mark the opening of the remaining 32-kilometer SCTEx stretch from Clark to Tarlac City.

The 50.5-kilometer stretch from Clark to Subic was opened to motorists last April, with a toll of P2 per kilometer for Class A vehicles.

Abaya said the total project cost would amount to “slightly over P27 billion” to include other costs such as the consultants’ fees, right of way, project management and administration, guarantee fee for the Department of Finance, and interest rates, among others.

Eighty-five percent or about P22.5 billion of the SCTEx project was funded by a loan from the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC).

The remaining amount came from the BCDA, loans from commercial banks, and bonds that were floated.