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[av_heading heading=’ Bacolod airport needs expansion – Bing’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY MAE SINGUAY
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Saturday, May 27, 2017
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BACOLOD City – Mayor Evelio Leonardia was worrying about the reported cancellation of the development of the Bacolod-Silay Airport under a public-private partnership (PPP).
There is a need to expand the airport’s runway and terminal, Leonardia stressed.
Early this week the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said it cancelled plans to bid out contracts to modernize, operate and maintain five major regional airports in the Philippines.
But the DOTr said it would pursue the modernization and development projects — estimated to cost P108 billion — using funds from the government or through overseas development assistance loans.
The DOTr also insisted the change in the procurement mode will not necessarily delay the implementation of the projects.
Leonardia said that, when he was senior vice chairman for the committee on transportation in the House of Representatives, he lobbied to make Bacolod-Silay Airport one of the priority projects in the country.
Five airports were ultimately chosen for a PPP program — Davao, Bacolod, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro (Laguindingan), and the proposed New Bohol Airport in Tagbilaran — he said.
According to studies, there was a need for expansion at the Bacolod-Silay Airport, especially at the terminal building, and this project should be funded by a total of P20 billion, said the mayor.
While its terminal was built to accommodate around 800,000 passengers a year, the Bacolod-Silay Airport catered to 880,000 passengers during its first year of operation, said Leonardia.
“In the first invocation of the airport, it has already reached above its designed capacity,” he said. “Currently it is now running at 1.7 million passengers a year.”
Moreover, the Bacolod-Silay Airport has more inbound and outbound flights than the Iloilo Airport, Leonardia claimed, citing data from the Department of Tourism and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.
Leonardia said they were monitoring developments. He believes delaying the airport projects will adversely affect the city./PN
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