NEWS

By Richmond Mercurio

Photo shows a rendition of the new Clark terminal and elevated road.
STAR/File

MANILA, Philippines — Despite the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine, engineering and infrastructure conglomerate Megawide Construction Corp. is optimistic that it will be able to complete and deliver on schedule the new passenger terminal in Clark that will help decongest Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Megawide, together with its partner GMR Infrastructure Ltd. of India, is actually ahead of schedule in constructing the Clark International Airport’s new passenger terminal building prior to the imposition of the community quarantine in Luzon, Megawide chairman and CEO Edgar Saavedra said.

“That we were ahead of schedule in the construction of the new Clark passenger terminal building is a testament to all the hard work and dedication of the people on the ground such as our engineering and construction teams,” he said.

Saavedra said construction of the new terminal, access roads, bus station, and car parks is 96 percent complete with only minor works remaining.

He said the new terminal building shell has been substantially completed, and installation of mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire-protection works as well as construction of the landside works are already in the final stages.

“The ECQ has minimal impact on our construction timelines for Clark International Airport primarily because engineering and construction are Megawide’s core strengths and the fact that we leveraged on what we learned from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) expansion,” he said.

Saavedra said Megawide is confident that the construction project may still be turned over to the Bases Conversion and Development Authority before the July 31 completion date should the lockdown end as scheduled on April 14.

The Clark International Airport’s new terminal is designed to increase the capacity of the airport from four million to 12 million passengers per annum.

Its construction is being undertaken by Megawide GMR Construction Joint Venture Inc., which won the expansion project in December 2017 by submitting the lowest bid at P9.36 billion under a hybrid public-private partnership scheme.

Megawide and Indian airport developer GMR are also behind the development of the MCIA and the contractor of the multi-awarded MCIA Terminal 2.

“We learned a lot during the construction of MCIA Terminal 2. We applied all these learnings in the Clark project, including engineering techniques such as the use of glued-laminated timber for a full roof structure, and many others,” Saavedra said.

Source: The Philippine Star