THE Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions Inc. has submitted an unsolicited proposal for the development of the Sayak Airport in Siargao to the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
However, the proposal seems to be off tangent from the government’s plan to relocate the airport to a better site.
“They submitted the proposal for the operations, maintenance and development of Siargao Airport on February 21. It’s still being evaluated,” Transportation Undersecretary Manuel Tamayo said in a chance interview.
He noted, however, that the proposal is not in line with the government’s plan to develop a new airport in a new site.
“There are a lot of limitations with Siargao because of the mountains. That’s why we are looking into a new site as far as Siargao is concerned,” Tamayo said. “So their proposal is a bit offtrack.”
The government, he added, has already allocated P400 million to develop a feasibility study and for site acquisition.
“It will be bigger and longer,” Tamayo said.
He added, however, that the government is open to tapping the official development assistance programs of South Korea and Japan for the construction of the airport. It is also open to making it a public-private partnership deal.
“We’re open to anything,” he said.