SBMA restarts ₧122.7-M rehab of security fence, perimeter road

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—FOLLOWING the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in public works projects, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has resumed the rehabilitation of a perimeter fence and perimeter road dating back to US Navy days to improve the security of this leading business and industrial zone.

The two projects worth a total of P122.7 million were disrupted by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic last March but are now “back in full force,” said SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma on Tuesday.

Eisma said the P69.7-million perimeter fencing project will cover a 7-kilometer stretch from the Kalaklan Gate leading to Zambales until the Kalayaan Gate, which exits at the eastern part of Olongapo City.

The P53-million perimeter road rehabilitation project, meanwhile, will run from the 14th Street Gate leading to the central part of Olongapo, up to the Kalayaan Gate.

“The two projects are complementary,” Eisma said. “The fencing project will improve the security at the free port perimeter, while the road rehabilitation project will improve management of access along the perimeter areas,” she added.

The SBMA Engineering Department said previously that the perimeter fence project, which started last January, will be finished by October 28 this year.

The project, however, was stalled by the pandemic and is now about 53 percent done, with new project completion date set in April 2021.

SBMA project engineers said the project involves the installation of special load-bearing concrete blocks with the strength of 2,500 psi to replace the chain-link perimeter fence that has been destroyed in many places. The project also includes clearing and excavation works, column and tie beam installation, and plastering works.

Meanwhile, the perimeter road rehabilitation project also started in January with initial completion date in August this year. Now about 11 percent completed, the project is expected to be finished in February next year.

This project will repair the deteriorating perimeter road that separates the Subic Bay Freeport Zone from adjacent communities in Olongapo, and improve drainage along the perimeter road as well.

It involves concreting an areas totaling 6,614 square meters with Portland Cement Concrete Pavement (PCCP), a material that SBMA Engineering said was specifically used to yield a strong and durable, yet cost effective and workable structure that can take heavy loads like trucks that usually utilized the perimeter road.

Aside from paving works, the project includes clearing and grubbing, leveling and compaction, and installation of forms.

Both the perimeter fence and the perimeter road now under rehabilitation are remnants of the security network erected by the US Navy around the fenced-in portion of the former military base.

The US Navy finally vacated Subic in 1992, thus paving the way for the creation of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.