BCDA, MNTC sign deal for SCTEx operation, maintenance

MANILA, Philippines - State-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) has signed the business agreement for the management, operation and maintenance of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) with Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC).

The business agreement was signed by BCDA president and chief executive officer Arnel Paciano Casanova and Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman of MNTC and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. on Thursday at the Malacanang Palace and was witnessed by President Aquino and French President Francois Hollande.

French firm EGIS Projects SA owns 10 percent of MNTC and is part of the consortium that would provide the toll equipment for the upgrading of the SCTEx.

Under the business agreement, MNTC would be responsible for the management, toll collection, traffic safety and security, toll road and facilities maintenance including greening and landscaping, public relations and marketing, as well as other necessary support services for the SCTEx, which traverses the provinces of Bataan, Pampanga and Tarlac, for a period of 28 years or until Oct. 30, 2043.

The agreement also covers the payment of concession fees equivalent to 50 percent of SCTEx gross toll revenues to the government.

MNTC turned over a check worth P3.5 billion to the BCDA during the signing of the agreement as part of the conditions set during the price challenge conducted earlier this month for the management, operation and maintenance of the SCTEx.

While BCDA and MNTC entered into a business operating agreement covering the management and operation of the SCTEx for a period of 33 years in 2011, a price challenge was conducted in line with a directive from the Office of the President in the interest of transparency and fair competition.

“We are happy that finally, the contract is signed, and we can move on with the full operation and further upgrading and development of the SCTEx, particularly the NLEX-SCTEx toll integration as well as providing the facilities and service areas that are needed to serve the public,” Casanova said.

“The price challenge was conducted in a very transparent manner. We are grateful to MNTC for keeping the faith to undergo a process of fair and transparent competition. This just proves that good governance is good economics. The seal of transparency and integrity serves as the unbreakable bond of the sanctity of this contract,” he added.

For his part, MNTC president Rodrigo Franco said the signing of the agreement means that motorists using the SCTExshould expect to have a travel experience similar to that of the NLEX (North Luzon Expressway).

“The management, operation and maintenance of the road and its facilities, the brand of customer service available, and the world class technology used in the NLEX will all be extended to the SCTEx,” he said.

Ramoncito Fernandez, president of MNTC’s parent firm Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) said “the acquisition of SCTEx is only the beginning of MPTC’s plan to link the countryside and Metro Manila and boost socioeconomic development in the regions.”

Earlier this month the BCDA and MNTC also signed an agreement for the integration of toll collection systems of NLEX and SCTEx into a single system to allow faster travel for motorists.

The toll integration which is expected to cost P650 million and to be shouldered by MNTC, would improve lane throughput to 800 transactions per hour from 200 previously and be operational before the end of the year.