Duterte plans US$1b airport, rail project at former US base

MANILA: The Philippines plans to award at least US$1 billion (RM4.39 billion) of contracts to build an airport and a railway to transform a former United States military base into a commercial hub as part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s push to distribute wealth outside Manila.

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority wanted these and other major infrastructure projects for the area to be awarded by the second half of next year and for most to be completed as early as 2019, said its chief executive officer Vince Dizon.

The authority would decide by the first quarter of next year whether to invite bids to build or operate the infrastructure, or do both, he said.

“We want the investment community to know that this government isn’t just about addressing crime and drugs,” said Dizon. “We’re also here to build, build and build.”

Duterte is lifting infrastructure spending to a record and allocating resources away from the capital, where traffic and transport logjams cost the economy at least 2.4 billion pesos (RM215.38 million) a day.

His government is attempting to fast track development of the planned Clark Green City, which was carved out of the former Clark Air Base used by US forces during World War 2. It received just one bid last year to develop part of the proposed alternative capital city.

At 9,450ha, Clark Green City would dwarf the main financial district of Makati, home to the nation’s stock exchange and banks’ headquarters.

Building infrastructure outside the capital was key to attracting investment and boosting the country’s growth potential to as much as nine per cent, said Rosemarie Edillon, deputy director-general at the National Economic and Development Authority, yesterday. Bloomberg