Completion of Naia tollroad delayed

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp.’s Naia Expressway tollroad hit a snag that would push back its completion to November 2016, missing a deadline for full opening before President Aquino steps down in the middle of the year, a company official told the Inquirer.

The 5.4-kilometer tollroad, the third public private partnership (PPP) deal to be auctioned off by this administration, aims to ease access to the passenger terminals of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the country’s busiest air gateway.

It was set for full completion in May this year but this would no longer be met since it was discovered that part of the alignment would hit the underground mainline pipe of Maynilad Water Services Inc., one of two concessionaires serving Metro Manila’s water requirements.

Alec Cruz, who heads tollways for SMC subsidiary San Miguel Holdings, said in an interview yesterday that the pipe was located near the Villamor Airbase, an area whose right of way was earlier tagged as a cause of delay.

The conglomerate was still aiming to complete the elevated section of the tollroad  linking Naia Terminals 1 and 2 and the Entertainment City casino complex this May, Cruz said.

However, the completion of “all the elevated portion” extending to Naia Terminal 3 as well as the Skyway and South Luzon Expressway would be pushed back to November this year, he said.

Cruz noted that San Miguel was working to make the sections accessible to motorists via on- and off-ramps before November. However, full connectivity through an elevated tollroad would not happen until November, he said.

Ariel Angeles, head of PPP Service of the Department of Public Works and Highways, confirmed the delay yesterday, citing the assessment of their independent consultant. He added that Maynilad was also being “cooperative” and had begun the process of relocating its pipes.

He said the pace of construction was also being controlled to mitigate its effect on traffic conditions in the area around the Villamor Airbase.

“We have no choice but to do the phasing of construction,” Angeles said. “This is to maintain two-lanes on both directions. If we don’t, there will be chaos.”

Even with the May target, the tollroad’s completion was already a year behind schedule due to delays in the delivery of right-of-way, a perennial problem for big-ticket transport infrastructure deals.

The completion of the Naia Expressway by November also means the Aquino administration misses its target to deliver five finished PPP projects by the end of his term.

San Miguel won the Naia Expressway PPP project in 2013 after its P11-billion bid bested sole rival Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which had offered P305 million. The conglomerate will operate the expressway for a period of 30 years.

The project starts at the Skyway, which SMC operates, then  follows the existing road alignments over Sales Ave., Andrews Ave., Domestic Road and Naia Road. It will also have exit ramps at Macapagal Boulevard and Entertainment City, which is being developed into a casino gaming hub to rival locations in Macau and Singapore.