EdPam cites P1.3 B infra boom for Angeles City

ANGELES CITY –Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan expressed his optimism on Monday that all six major infrastructure projects set for this highly-urbanized city will come to fruition before his term ends.

The P1.3 billion-big ticket infrastructure plan will be implemented through the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Convergence Program under the 2019 Roads Leveraging Linkages of Industry and Trade (ROLL-IT).

According to City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) Officer-in-Charge Ami Victoria Dacanay, all documentary requirements were submitted by the local government last March 2.

Dacanay added that on May 10, the validating team, composed of the DTI Board of Investments and DPWH and DTI provincial and regional officials, conducted an ocular inspection on the industries that will benefit from the roads that will be constructed or rehabilitated under the ROLL-IT pr ogr am.

Meanwhile, Pamintuan, who also heads the Regional Development Council (RDC) of Central Luzon, said that “the ROLL-IT Projects are seen not only to improve the present traffic condition of the city but also, to connect the different parts of the city to economic opportunities”.

“We are now benefitting from the national government’s policy on infrastructure development. The construction of new road links and improvement of the existing ones will surely spur economic activity in the city,” the mayor added.

Included in the list of ROLL-IT priority infrastructure projects is the construction of the P236- million NLEx-SCTEx Connecting Road (Abacan Expressway) in support to the furniture, IT-BPM, hotels, garments and textiles industries of the city.

The expressway, which will feature a highway, promenades, and a bicycle lane of modern urban design, will connect the east and west portions of the city starting from the AbacanPulung Maragul Bridge all the way to the AbacanAnunas Bridge.

Other projects include widening of the Philippine Export Zone (PEZA) Road and construction of road connecting Angeles-Magalang Road to East Circumferential Road (P66 million); improvement of the Zeppelin Street and Clark Perimeter Road (P103 million); construction of Angeles City Toll Exit connecting NLEx and SCTEx (P212 million); improvement and construction of road connecting West Circumferential Road to East Mega Dike (P67.9 million); and construction of East Circumferential Road connecting MacArthur Highway to AngelesMagalang Road (P644 million).

According to Dacanay, the city is still waiting for the result of the validation whether the projects will be funded under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) or the National Expenditures Program (NEP) for 2019.

On top of these national government-funded infrastructure projects, Pamintuan is also eyeing to build a modern, climate-adaptive, and disaster-resilient five-floor city hall which will break ground before the year ends.

The mayor furthered that city will finally have its own sports complex and convention centre constructed as he caps his three-term leadership in the city.— AC-CIO