CLARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – A new airport terminal building with more than 100,000 square meters and a capacity of eight million passengers annually broke ground here on Wednesday.
The new terminal building, located in the northeast portion of this 2,300-hectare civil aviation complex, is described as the fi rst of the Duterte administration’s hybrid infrastructure projects under the “Build, Build, Build” program. The hybrid model means that the government will build the infrastructure using its own funds and then the operations and maintenance will be bid out to the private sector.
Leading the groundbreaking rites were Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, former president 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade, Governors Lilia G. Pineda of Pampanga and Susan Yap of Tarlac, Senators Dick Gordon and JV Ejercito, and Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) president and CEO Vivencio Dizon among others.
More than a dozen heavy equipment, including back hoes, bulldozers and payloaders, buzzed to life at the site as soon as the groundbreaking ceremony ended signaling the fast-paced development of the project. The hybrid project is also considered the fastest to be implemented by the national government since its approval by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) board in June. Megawide-GMR won the bid to build the terminal after going through “a very stringent and transparent” bidding process which was monitored by the International Finance Corp. of the World Bank.
Megawide-GMR bested four other bidders for the design, engineering and construction of the new Clark airport terminal building.
Last December 14, Megawide-GMR submitted the lowest financial proposal for the airport expansion project at P9.36 billion.
In his speech, Tugade noted there were heavy rains the night before the rites but good weather prevailed as soon as the sun came up in the morning, “making it a beautiful day which might well be the blessing bestowed on the new terminal building.”
Tugade recalled that efforts requesting to start the improvement and renovation of the Clark International Airport “only fell on deaf ears in the past.”
“But now, it gives new life to the plans and the desires of the Kapampangans from all over Central Luzon to have a premiere international gateway here is being realized,” he said.
Tugade also said that not later than January 6, 2018, the government will mobilize to start the construction of the Tutuban to Malolos portion of the rail project and the entire stretch from Tutuban to Clark will be fully completed during the term of President Duterte. He said the rail project is tied to the full development of the Clark airport.
He also said before the end of next year, the government will start making reality the rail connectivity between Clark and Subic and the thirds project connected to the Clark airport is the so called New Clark City in Tarlac which will be “the icing on the cake” that will augur well for the development and growth of the entire country.
The Clark International Airport is envisioned to be Asia’s next premiere gateway and is expected to help decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila.
It is one of the high impact projects under the Build, Build, Build Infrastructure Program and compliments the Clark Freeport Zone which is being developed as the next investment center in Asia.
