Meralco needs P14-billion to relocate 10,000 poles along five railway projects

Power retailer Manila Electric Co. said it needs to relocate more than 10,000 electric poles at a cost of P14.155 billion to pave the way for the construction of five railway projects of the Department of Transportation.

“Our initial ballpark estimate is for us to be able to relocate all the affected poles in all these five priority projects of the DOTr, we will be needing P14.1 billion.  There’s a cost-sharing between Meralco [30 percent] and DOTr [70 percent],” Meralco senior vice president Ronnie Aperocho said.

About P9.916 billion of the relocation cost will be charged to DOTr, while P4.239 billion will be charged to Meralco as project cost, subject to approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission.

The rail projects include the 12.6-kilometer PNR North 2 project (390 poles), 38.2-km PNR North 1 project (1,395 poles), 25-km Metro Manila Subway project (238 poles), 56-km PNR South Commuter Railway project (1,884 poles) and the 208-km PNR South Long Haul project (6,435 poles).

“This estimate is based on preliminary cost design estimate and for budgetary purposes…to agree to shoulder adjustment costs based on actual relocation costs,” Aperocho said.

Aperocho said a memorandum of agreement was being finalized for the pole relocation to avoid major issues and potential sources of disputes.

Aperocho said Meralco was also working on the relocation of poles affected by several infrastructure projects under the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program.

These projects include Light Rail Transit Line 2 2 East Extension, Skyway Stage 3, MNTC Segment 10, LRT 1 Cavite Extension, Metro Rail Transit Line 7, C5 Southlink and Cavite-Laguna Expressway

“All the other slow-moving projects are because of the delay in the acquisition of ROW [right of way] for us to ahead with the execution,” he said.

Meralco senior vice president Alfredo Panlilio said the company needed to file applications with the ERC for the approval of the relocation cost to be shouldered by the utility.

“The portion of Meralco is for load growth. Since we are constructing especially some underground, we have proposed to include it already that’s why we are shouldering a portion,” he said.

Meralco is the country’s biggest power distributor with over six million customers in its franchise area.

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ROW problems to delay start of NLEX connector project

Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) unit NLEX Corp. said it may be able to start with the construction of the North Luzon Expressway - South Luzon Expressway (NLEX-SLEX) connector road project only in the first quarter of next year due to unforeseen delays in right-of-way or ROW acquisitions.

In a briefing last Friday, NLEX Corp. president and chief executive officer Rodrigo Franco said while ROW acquisitions are moving, these are not yet complete, preventing the company from jumpstarting the project.

“The ROW is still ongoing for the connector. We need substantial ROW to start the construction,” Franco said.

He conceded that it is really more difficult to complete ROW acquisitions in Metro Manila because land is more expensive. At least 50 percent of the needed ROWs have been acquired.

The company expects to start construction early next year because of the delay in ROW acquisition, a responsibility of the Department of Public Works and Highways. 

But Franco said the process is moving and they hope to see more substantial ROW acquisitions by the end of the year to be able to start construction early next year.

Once the company is able to commence construction early next year, it hopes to complete the project by the end of 2021.

With a cost of P23.3 billion, the NLEX-SLEX connector road project is an eight-kilometer, all elevated four-lane toll expressway which would extend the NLEX southward from the end of Segment 10 in C3 Road Caloocan City to PUP Sta. Mesa, Manila and connect to the Skyway Stage 3, mostly traversing the Philippine National Railways’ track.

It will include two interchanges located at C3 Road in Caloocan and España in Manila.

It’s been touted by Public Works Secretary Mark Villar as a crucial infrastructure project that would decongest Metro Manila by providing cargo trucks their own highway.

It would likewise help stimulate development in Manila, Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and surrounding areas.

Once completed, the project is expected to benefit at least 35,000 motorists per day.

It is expected to cut travel time from SLEX to NLEX to 20 minutes from two hours, as well as from Clark to Calamba to one hour and 40 minutes from approximately three hours.

The MVP Group was hoping to have formal turnover of the sites in June, but ROW acquisitions have delayed the process.

Aside from the NLEX-SLEX connector road project, MPIC is building other tollways such as the Cavite-Laguna Expressway, NLEX-Harbor Link Segment 10, C-5 South Link ,and Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway.

At present, MPIC operates the following tollways: NLEX, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, and the Manila Cavite Toll Expressway.

In addition to tollways, MPIC is into other businesses such as water, power, hospitals, railways, and logistics.


Read more at https://www.philstar.com/business/2018/08/06/1839929/row-problems-delay-start-nlex-connector-project#ygwKQpbyhOiJ64OW.99