Next admin to decide Cavite int’l airport – Abaya
Auctioning off the government’s plan to construct a multibillion-dollar international airport in Cavite is no longer feasible before President Benigno Aquino III steps down from office next year, a ranking Cabinet official now admits.
Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya has acknowledged of difficulty in rolling out the project to construct a new airport in Sangley Point, Cavite City a year before a change in government leadership takes place.
“Bidding it out might be difficult,” Abaya admitted since the feasibility study is still ongoing for the modern airport that could eventually replace Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) as the country’s premiere international gateway.
Noriaki Niwa of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said they will be able to provide the Philippine Government next month with a concise and impartial version of the feasibility study which will be presented to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board chaired by the President.
“The feasibility study is still going on and will be finished next year. The DOTC requested us to provide an interim report next month, we are trying our best effort to meet the demand,” Niwa said at the sidelines of the ceremonial contract signing for the JICA-assisted New Bohol Airport Construction Project.
Asked if an ambitious project based on an “interim” report could get past NEDA Board scrutiny, Abaya only said “hopefully, it’s good enough for NEDA Board approval.”
“At least what we could do for whoever will replace us is to get a NEDA Board approval and clear the direction of the government. This will allow businesses and other stakeholders to also align their plans on that,” the official pointed out.
Construction of a new international airport in Luzon was proposed after JICA predicted that NAIA would hit its maximum capacity by 2018 or 2020.
According to a 2011 JICA study, annual passenger forecasts for the Greater Capital Region, which covers the National Capital Region and Regions 3 and 4A, will rise from 49.8 million in 2020 to 75 million in 2030, shooting up to 106.7-million in 2040. In 2012, total traffic recorded in the region was already at 31.879 million and in 2013, NAIA alone has catered to 32 million passengers.
To prepare for the projected traffic growth, the government has two options under the DOTC’s Gateway Airport Roadmap towards 2040: either it will close NAIA by 2030 and replace it with a new international airport in Manila that will complement the operation of Clark International Airport or to let NAIA operate up to 2040 or beyond to co-exist with the two other airports as international gateways.
Based on JICA’s site-selection study that the DOTC had adopted, Sangley Point emerged as the best choice among seven possible locations for the new airport given its catchment area, navigational risk, natural hazard risk, and accessibility. But due to the physical limitations of Sangley Point, reclamation of land is needed in order to construct a four-runway hub.
Apart from the reclamation requirement, construction of a modern international airport would roughly entail at least $10 billion worth of in investment and at least 10 years to complete.