Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 31) — A new elevated railway project proposal connecting Metro Manila to some towns in Rizal is a step away from final approval, according to the Transportation department.
In a statement on Tuesday, the agency said the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee (ICC-CabCom) approved the P59.3-billion Metro Railway Transit Line 4 (MRT-4) project on December 20. Target construction is by 2021.
The ICC-CabCom is composed of the Finance secretary as chairperson; NEDA director-general as co-chairperson; and the Executive Secretary, secretaries of Agriculture, Trade and Industry, Budget and Management, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor as members. The NEDA Board chaired by President Rodrigo Duterte will give its final nod on the project.
The Transportaton department said MRT-4 will have 11 stations. The new train system will connect the eastern portions of Metro Manila, including parts of Quezon City, San Juan City, Mandaluyong City, Pasig City including Ortigas Center, to some towns in the province of Rizal.
“Considering how densely populated these areas are, which is made more difficult with the lack of road capacities and ever worsening traffic conditions, MRT-4 will be of great help in moving commuters between eastern Metro Manila and Rizal,” Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade was quoted as saying in the statement.
The Transportation department said MRT-4 will be funded by official development assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It is expected to operate by 2025.
According to the statement, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, ICC-CabCom Infastructure Cluster chairman, said approval of the MRT-4 and other key transport and infrastructure projects is an assurance that most of these projects will begin within the Duterte administration.
“After passing the ICC-CabCom, we’ll be able to release the projects by early next year, allowing us time within the Duterte administration to significantly complete these game-changing projects. It’s crucial that we start these projects – we’ll be working on the procurement, that’s why we fast-tracked all these projects before the end of the year so that next year, we can focus purely on the detailed engineering and procurement of these big-ticket projects,” said Villar.
The ICC-CabbCom also approved the unsolicited proposal of businessman Dennis Uy’s Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corporation to operate and upgrade the Davao International Airport, another unsolicited proposal of Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc. to run the Laguindingan airport in Misamis Oriental, and the EDSA Greenways project tob funded by ADB, which will provide a total of five kilometers of elevated walkways in “high-density traffic locations” along the major thoroughfare.
