Monday, June 25, 2018

DMCI, Japanese firm could partner for project


By  ANGELICA BALLESTEROS, TMT on June 25, 2018

SURIGAO DEL NORTE: The DMCI Group is in talks with a Japan-based firm to bid for the construction of the Malolos-Tutuban commuter railway project, which may require an investment of about P50 billion from the local company.
DMCI Holdings President and Chairman Isidro Consunji told a news conference in Surigao del Norte over the weekend that he would return to Tokyo, Japan tomorrow (Tuesday, June 26) to continue negotiations with their Japanese counterpart.
“There is a huge chance that this project will go forward because there is no right-of-way issue,” he said in Filipino.
Consunji did not identify DMCI’s potential Japanese partner.

Described as a “game-changer”, the Malolos-Tutuban railway will be the first phase of the 38-kilometer North-South Commuter Railway project that will connect Malolos in Bulacan and Tutuban in Manila. It is expected to help decongest the worsening traffic in the metropolis.
The entire development is expected to cost $2.88 billion and serve 20,000 to 100,000 commuters daily. Travel time will be cut to just 35 minutes from the current two hours upon operations.
The Malolos-Tutuban railway project is part of the big-ticket infrastructure projects lined up under the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build initiative.
If it bags the project, DMCI Holdings, Inc.’s wholly-owned construction arm DM Consunji, Inc. will undertake the construction and system installation of the project.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) had announced last year that the project should break ground in the first or second quarter of 2019, with bidding to be held sometime in the third quarter of 2018.
“In terms of Build, Build, Build, the commuter rail will be the most advanced,” Consunji noted, as the project will be electricity driven and high-speed.
“That’s the most important thing that the administration is going to do … EDSA will be decongested with that,” he added.
Meanwhile, the second phase of the project will run from Malolos to Clark in Pampanga, while the third phase will extend from Tutuban to Calamba in Laguna.
The various phases were endorsed by the Department of Finance to the Japan International Cooperation Agency for possible official development assistance (ODA) funding during the 5th Philippines-Japan joint committee meeting held in Tokyo last week.

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