By Reynaldo G. Navales
CLARK FREEPORT — Clark Development Corporation (CDC) president Liberato Laus said the Clark Freeport is “physically” ready as the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) is gearing to operate as the country’s premiere gateway to the world.
Laus issued the statement after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared DMIA as the replacement of the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) recently.
The CDC official said the Clark Freeport is “physically ready” in terms of infrastructure to accommodate vehicular and human traffic once the DMIA is fully-operational as an international airport.
He noted the completion of the P21-billion Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), which will open next month. The expressway would then connect Clark to contingent areas like Subic’s seaport in Zambales province and the industrial areas of Tarlac province.
“Travel time to Subic, which usually takes two hours, will now be cut down to just 30 minutes,” Laus said, adding that nearby Tarlac province will be closer by just 10 to 15 minutes.
Laus stressed that Clark officials have been bullish in the development of the Freeport’s infrastructure to meet Arroyo’s grand vision to transform Clark into an aviation and logistics hub in the Asia-Pacific Region.
He added that within the first quarter of 2008, construction work for the Clark-South Interchange (CSI) is set to start.
Earlier, CDC executive vice president Isaac Puno III of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) reported before the media and Clark officials that construction work on the CSI, which would link the Clark Freeport and nearby Angeles City and Mabalacat town to SCTEx “is set to start early next year (2008).”
Puno said the construction date was “based on the BCDA’s revision and assessment of the area,” which is near the Mabalacat gate of Clark.
“We are set to start construction (of the Clark-South Interchange) by early next year as per our assessment and revision of the area’s geography,” said Puno, who is also program manager for the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway Project (SCTEP).
The CSI, which would cost the government an initial P314 million, is among the three interchanges that would connect the province of Pampanga to the 21-billion SCTEx project.
The two other interchanges would be built at the Hacienda Dolores in Porac and Floridablanca. The Porac interchange would cost P260 million while the Floridablanca interchange would cost P280 million.
Laus said the construction of the CSI is expected to attract more investors inside the Freeport as presidential infrastructure projects will realize the government’s vision to make Clark and Subic Bay Freeport Zones as the premier logistics hubs in the Asian pacific region.
