Having been delayed for two years from the original target completion target of January 2018 due to the slow delivery of right of way (ROW), the third portion of the Metro Manila Skyway is now about a third complete, data from the Public-Private Partnership Center showed.
As of June, the Skyway Stage 3, which costs a whopping P37.43 billion, is only 28.7 percent complete. It is expected to be commercially operational in three years’ time.
Construction of the 14.82-kilometer facility started in 2014, but the contractor Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp., a San Miguel Corp.-backed company, encountered roadblocks in terms of ROW delivery.
It also had to go through a still unsettled legal issue. San Miguel filed a criminal complaint for qualified theft against Indonesian businessman Shadik Wahono, a partner in the Citra Group.
Projected to open in 2020, the multi-billion project is divided into two phases which consists of Buendia to Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard, and Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard to Bonifacio Avenue in Balintawak.
Upon completion, the skyway will give accessibility, mobility, and connectivity in the metropolis through eight strategically-located interchanges: Buendia, President Quirino Avenue, Plaza Dilao and Nagtahan, Aurora Boulevard, E. Rodriguez Avenue, Quezon Avenue, Sgt. Rivera and Balintawak, having a total of 14 Toll Plazas.
The elevated expressway is part of the supplemental toll operation agreement among the Republic of the Philippines, through Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), Citra, and the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) in relation to the business and joint venture agreement covering the project.
Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar had promised a faster and more efficient right of way acquisition and delivery from his agency’s end, saying that this will be his office’s “trademark” in the industry.
“At the government side, we are fast-tracking all projects—that will be the trademark of the Duterte administration, all infrastructure projects will be moving at a fast pace,” he said.