DoTC, Japan firm set to wind up NAIA 3 work

Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II has set a meeting with the patriarch of Japan’s Takenaka Corp. to iron out details of a deal that would lead to the completion of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.

Trying to make a good impression, Roxas said he wanted to meet with senior members of Takenaka Corp., one of Japan’s oldest corporations, to show the Philippine government’s sincerity in striking a fair deal.

“The meeting is set in mid-March. I want to meet with the family’s head, not just professional managers,” Roxas said in a text message to the

Inquirer. “The meeting is being set when the senior Takenaka family member is available.”

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) is currently negotiating with Takenaka, the original contractor for terminal 3, to finish work on the facility that has been running below its maximum capacity since it opened in 2008.

In a press conference on Monday, Roxas said that during their scheduled meeting in Japan, the DoTC would finalize a memorandum of agreement with Takenaka.

Once the deal is signed, a Construction Works Agreement will be drafted to specify the conditions and scope to be covered under the project.

A total of 23 airport services are still lacking, including the installation of a flight information display, baggage handling systems, surveillance cameras and fire detection systems.

NAIA 3 is currently running at about 50 percent of its capacity of 13 million passengers a year. Once it is running at full strength, it is expected to significantly decongest airport terminals 1 and 2.

Takenaka was originally hired by Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piatco) to build NAIA 3. But when the facility was expropriated by the government—after the Supreme Court found that Piatco was acting merely as a dummy for its German partner Fraport AG—work at the facility stopped.

Takenaka also remains unpaid for its work.

Roxas said the difference in the price being asked by Takenaka and the amount the government was willing to pay has narrowed to less than $10 million, from an original gap of $40 million.

Takenaka is the biggest engineering, architecture and design group in Japan. Among its notable projects are the Fukuoka Dome, Japan’s first large-scale stadium with retractable roof; and the Tokyo Dome, the first large-scale stadium with air-supported membrane roof.