Railway link to Metro crucial, say BCDA, CL execs

Guiguinto, Bulacan—Even if the NorthRail contract would not push through, a railway link from Metro Manila is crucial to the development of central and northern Luzon, officials said.

“A delay in the NorthRail project is also a delay in the economic progress in Central Luzon,” Felicito Payumo, chair of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), told reporters here last week.

In May, President Benigno Aquino III ordered a review of the NorthRail contract and loan terms amid reports of overpricing and work slippage. The project was undertaken by Sinomach (formerly China National Machinery and Equipment Corp.).

“I can understand the President [when he ordered a contract review], but if not NorthRail, there must be another similar fast train to connect the north to Metro Manila,” said Payumo, who was a guest during the North Luzon Area Business Conference (NLABC) on Aug, 19.

Reports from the Subic-Clark Alliance Development Council showed that as of May 31, only 22.9 percent of the project’s Phase 1 had been completed, way below the 85.5 percent completion rate set for March 27. Work slippage (delay) was at 66.62 percent.

Mr. Aquino, in a visit to Bulacan in May, said the government had to review the project to ensure no overpricing.

“It would be irresponsible to continue this project while there are questions on its huge budget. We want this NorthRail project and this is our dream for Central and Northern Luzon but the government cannot allow this situation to go on. That’s why there is an ongoing review,” he said in Filipino.

Payumo said the Aquino administration was aware of the problems encountered by NorthRail. Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas II has been tapped to address this issue, he said.

An efficient train system is needed to move people and goods faster to and from Metro Manila, the country’s center of commerce and government, Payumo said.

The NorthRail, which will run through Bulacan and Pampanga, is expected to connect the Clark Freeport and the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport to the capital.

Ramoncito Fernandez, president and chief executive officer of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., said his company, led by Manuel Pangilinan, was interested to develop and operate the Clark airport to become the country’s premier international airport.

But for this to be realized, a railway link to Metro Manila should be finished to cut travel time of over an hour.

“The NorthRail is very much needed. It is a requirement for international airlines. The government has to decide if the NorthRail project will resume,” Fernandez said.

In a resolution, NLABC participants asked the government to resume construction and complete the first phase of the NorthRail by 2013 to provide fast, convenient and affordable travel from Metro Manila to Clark Freeport and vice versa.

Earlier, Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado asked concerned government agencies to safeguard the assets of the NorthRail project so these could be used once the project resumes.

Sy-Alvarado, chair of the infrastructure committee of the Regional Development Council, said railroad tracks, steel bars, columns and pipes, galvanized iron sheets and other construction materials were left exposed to the elements and had not been secured from thieves and vandals.

Vacant lots set aside for the project may be occupied again by squatters, he said.

He said the provincial government had no authority to secure and protect the facilities.

“The steel bars are rusting. These should be covered with canvas or coated with paint to preserve them. I think the galvanized iron sheets they used as fencing materials had been stolen. I fear that squatters would return to the areas earlier cleared for the project,” he said.

San Fernando Mayor Oscar Rodriguez, RDC chair, said he was assured by Sen. Franklin Drilon, who had earlier exposed the alleged overpricing in the project, that the construction of the rail line would proceed.

“The President and Senator Drilon promised us that the project would not be terminated because this is vital to the development of Central Luzon,” Rodriguez said in Filipino.