Gov’t urged to decide on toll rates

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. has asked the government to clarify its stance on toll rates, saying the administration’s failure to act on rate increases in recent years would affect future investments.

MPTC president Ramoncito Fernandez made the statement as he pushed for the firm’s rate hike petitions for its North Luzon Expressway and Manila Cavite Expressway (Cavitex).

He said forgone revenues because of inaction on rates for NLEx over two years and Cavitex “for more than three years” had so far amounted to about P2 billion.

A major expansion project for NLEx is the 5.6-km segment 10, which will link Valenzuela and C3 Road in Caloocan City via an elevated expressway. This is part of the tollroad operator’s so-called Harbor Link, which aims to provide better access to the port area.

MPTC is now in the final stages of construction of Segment 9 of the NLEx Harbor Link Project, which is slated to open by the first quarter of 2015. The segment will feature a 2.4-km , four-lane at-grade expressway from the Smart Connect Interchange to MacArthur Highway in Valenzuela City.

“We would like to have clarify the toll rate regime of segment 9 and 10 so we can continue to defend to our shareholders our continuous investment in both roads,” he added.

The company on Sept. 30 filed a   petition in the Toll Regulatory Board for the bi-annual rate adjustment due in January as provided in its concession for NLEx. This is in addition to the pending petition filed by the company in 2012 for the tolerate adjustment scheduled on Jan. 1, 2013.

The current petition would bring the cumulative toll rate adjustment to 15 percent, of which 12 percent is long overdue, it said.