SMC also looking into North Expressway road project
Posted on July 20th, 2009
In recent news, it was reported that San Miguel Corp. is having a keen interest in taking over the operations of Dole Food Corp. in the Philippines, as well as “other opportunities offered by Dole beyond local shores.†This is all part of San Miguel’s expansion program.
Aside from the Dole takeout, the company is also into a negotiation to take part in a road construction project that would cut the travel time from Manila to Baguio by half.
“This is in line with our diversification plans and we’re happy to be a catalyst for the infrastructure needs of the country,†said Ramon Ang, president of San Miguel Corp.
The company has just signed a non-binding deal that allow them acquire a “significant†stake in a private sector consortium that owns the P15.36 billion Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Toll Expressway project. San Miguel though, did not elaborate how large a stake it would acquire, which Ang clarified as still “under negotiations†although it earlier reported that it wanted a majority control.
“The north to central Luzon stretch is a potentially dynamic industrial corridor, and the proposed expressway will make it easier and more cost-effective to move goods and people from one-point of Luzon to another. As a food and beverage conglomerate with one of the most developed distribution networks in the country, we have a strong interest in making it happen,†Ang added.
The project will extend from La Paz, Tarlac (end of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway) to Rosario, La Union, which will be an 88 kilometer stretch.
Private Infrastructure Development Corp. (PIDC), the private consortium handling the project entered into a three-phase contract between the Department of Public Works and Highways, which is build-operate and transfer. It is expected to be completed by 2013, although the first two sections are expected to be finished by May 2010 and January 2011, respectively.
The estimated cost of the project is P15.36 billion, this includes a P2.9-billion subsidy from the government for certain portion of the expressway. Although intended to have four lanes, the project will only have two lanes initially, the two lanes will be added once the traffic volume reaches 25,000 vehicles a day.
