FAB chair optimistic on proposed infrastructures in the province

MARIVELES, Bataan – Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) chairman and administrator Engineer Emmanuel Pineda is keenly optimistic of the strategic eco-industrial boom with the proposed  construction  of  the two multi-billion dollars infrastructure projects in the historic  peninsula .

Pineda revealed the other day that two Chinese state run construction firms have signified their intensions to build the Bataan-Cavite toll way bridge and   international container port terminal projects with an estimated total cost of some $ 4 billion under the auspices of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode for the people and investment opportunities in the province of Bataan.

These two huge infrastructure schemes are registered in the top eleven PPP priority programs of Bataan Governor Albert Raymond S. Garcia which would heighten the financial viability of industrial and commercial enterprises in the province and significantly contribute to the expansion of national and international trade and commerce.

Discussing the concept of the projects during the FAB Kapihan sa Media on Tuesday, Engr. Pineda explained the joint ventures are increasingly becoming popular as a faster and easier approach towards implementing infrastructure development and social service related projects at the local government level.

He recognized the infrastructure scheme is structured in such a way that the private sector gets a reasonable rate of return of its investment in three to five years operations.

The proposed  24.4 kilometers  toll way bridge is specifically designed  to start at the municipal tourism view deck  area in the coastal  village of Alas-Asin, this town, spanning across Manila Bay connecting AFAB to Naic town in Cavite.

Chairman Pineda said the bridge project would link–up three of the country’s most progressive regions namely Central Luzon, National Capital Region and CALABARZON without passing through the traffic congested roads of Metro Manila.

He assessed the proposed toll way bridge connecting Mariveles to Naic in Cavite, reportedly considered as the shortest connection at the mouth of Manila Bay, may accommodate oil and water pipelines, utility lines, fiber optics, power lines, cargo or passenger railways.

In a related development, the construction, development and operation of an international container port right at the entrance of Manila Bay, a stone’s throw away from historic Corregidor, would  provide   decongest   the Manila Port area and shipping out of export products to international markets.

The port terminal in Bataan would have a total land area of 180 hectares as a land reclamation project with a total berth length of more than 6 kilometers, 20 container berths and 100 hectares of container storage yard.

It is intended to have capacity panamax and neo panamax ships and can be a hub not only for the country but for other Asian and international countries. The port terminal would significantly reduce the number of cargo trucks plying the roads of Metro Manila going to different provinces and thus also help decongest traffic in Manila.