JG Summit, Filinvest want Clark Airport completed by 2020

MANILA, Philippines -  A consortium formed by JG Summit Holdings Inc. and Filinvest Development Corp. promised to complete the construction of a world-class Clark International Airport (CIA) by 2020 if the government would accept its unsolicited proposal.

“With early completion in mind, our unsolicited proposal is based on the Aeroport de Paris Masterplan prepared for Clark International Airport (CIA) last 2015  in order to fast track its development. The new CIA will serve the residents of central and northern Luzon and at the same time help ease congestion at NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport),” the consortium said in a statement yesterday.

Filinvest said its unsolicited proposal had been submitted as early as July last year after the government announced that it was open to accepting unsolicited proposals for infrastructure projects.

JG Summit and Filinvest’s P187-billion proposal covers a 50-year concession period and involves the augmentation of capacity of the airport in five phases to accommodate up to 36 million passengers per annum.

“The group has submitted its proposal with the objective of fully complying with the requirements of the BOT (build-operate-transfer) Law.

Under the BOT Law, only complete proposals will be given due course and entertained,” the consortium said.

Last week, the group of GMR Infrastructure Ltd. of India and Megawide Construction Corp. wrote a letter to the DOTr seeking original proponent status for the development of CIA.

Under the proposal, GMR-Megawide will develop CIA in six phases over a period of 50 years to handle up to 100 million passengers per year.

The proposal also includes the construction of a new 4.1-kilometer four lane access road to connect the airport to the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, as well as an integrated rail link.

Lim said earlier, GMR-Megawide’s proposal was submitted at a time when the CIA development was not open for unsolicited proposals.

On Monday, Lim said the DOTr is reviewing all airport proposals, including that of GMR-Megawide’s.

Sought for comment yesterday, GMR-Megawide said they would like to wait for the official results of the DOTr’s review.

“We are in a positive and competitive climate for infrastructure development. The company continues to support the administration’s vision to develop Philippine gateways and we reiterate our readiness to participate in a rules-based, transparent process,” GMR-Megawide said.