By Ashley Erika O. Jose, Reporter
METRO PACIFIC Tollways Corp. (MPTC) said it is negotiating with a European company for the expansion of Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEx).
“We are hoping to get something in writing soon because the foreign company takes time to look at the actual conditions on the ground. So, they have done their due diligence,” MPTC President and Chief Executive Officer Rogelio L. Singson told reporters on the sidelines of the SME Finance Forum on Tuesday.
“Now, we are ready to receive an offer within the next two weeks,” he added.
Mr. Singson said the investment from the foreign company, which he described as a European firm with existing tollway operations, may range from P5 billion to P10 billion.
“All of that will go to project expansion. It is not for buying of shares,” he noted.
This is part of the company’s strategy to make the expressway viable, as it currently reaches only 30% of its projected traffic volume and struggles to meet the target of 50,000 motorists per day, MPTC said.
The P33-billion CCLEx is an 8.9-kilometer toll bridge that connects the town of Cordova on Mactan Island to Cebu City via the South Road Properties.
The tollway company plans to expand both ends of CCLEx, linking it to Bacalso and Lapu-Lapu.
Nigel Paul C. Villarete, senior adviser on public-private partnership at the technical advisory group Libra Konsult, Inc., said that MPTC’s plan would provide faster access and lead to an increase in traffic volume.
“MPTC’s plans are the realization of the connectivity conceptualized decades ago to link Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) to the southern part of Cebu,” Mr. Villarete said.
He said MPTC may team up with its existing partner, the Spanish construction firm Acciona S.A., which specializes in infrastructure development including roads, expressways, and renewable energy projects.
Mr. Villarete said the remaining missing link is the expressway connecting MCIA to CCLEx, as the northern part of Cebu is already connected to the airport via the Mandaue-Mactan bridges and CCLEx.
Rene S. Santiago, former president of the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines, said that providing access to both sides of CCLEx will be crucial, particularly a direct link to MCIA.
“CCLEx is bleeding for lack of traffic volume. A foreign investor would have to take a leap of faith,” he said.
MPTC is the tollways unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., one of three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT Inc.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.
