BCDA, MNTC formally sign contract to upgrade SCTEX

(Updated 11:42 a.m.) System upgrades for the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and its integration with the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) will soon be realized after state-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and Manila North Tollways Corporation (MNTC) sealed the contract.

 

“We are happy that finally, the contract is signed, and we can move on with the full operation and further upgrading and development of the SCTEX, particularly the NLEX-SCTEX toll integration as well as providing the facilities and service areas that are needed to serve the public,” BCDA president and CEO Arnel Paciano Casanova said.

In a text message to GMA News Online, Casanova said the upgrade and integration "will be done in a seven-month time frame with favorable weather."

 

BCDA and MNTC have formally signed the long-term SCTEX management, operation and maintenance contract late Thursday, represented by Casanova and Metro Pacific Investment Corp. (MPIC) and MNTC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.

 

Held at the Malacañan Palace, the ceremonial signing was witnessed by President Benigno Aquino III and French President Francois Hollande.

 

MNTC majority owned by MPIC and is 10 percent owned by French firm EGIS Projects SA, which is part of the consortium that will provide the toll equipment for the upgrading of the SCTEX systems.

 

MNTC turned over a check worth P3.5 billion to the BCDA upon signing, as required under the SCTEX business agreement.

 

MNTC president Rodrigo Franco said the signing of the agreement means that motorists will soon begin to enjoy a travel experience to the north and back mirroring the NLEX experience in SCTEX.

 

“The management, operation and maintenance of the road and its facilities, the brand of customer service available, and the world class technology used in NLEX will all be extended to the SCTEX,” he noted.

 

For his part, Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) president Ramoncito Fernandez said that “the acquisition of SCTEX is only the beginning of MPTC’s plan to link the countryside and Metro Manila and boost socioeconomic development in the regions.” MNTC is a subsidiary of MPTC.

 

On February 9, the BCDA awarded the contract to MNTC, after the government-owned agency did not receive any price challenge for the management, operation and maintenance of the 94-kilometer SCTEX.

 

Under the agreement, MNTC shall be responsible for the management services, toll collection, traffic safety and security management, toll road and facilities maintenance, including greening and landscaping, public relations and marketing, and all necessary support services for 28 years until Oct. 30, 2043.

 

The agreement also includes the payment of concession fees equivalent to 50 percent of SCTEX gross toll revenues.

 

Last February 5, the NLEX-SCTEX toll integration agreement was signed, which will unify the separate toll collection systems, costing MNTC some P650 million.

 

The BCDA is the builder and owner of the SCTEX, a four-lane expressway that traverses Bataan, Pampanga, and Tarlac and is directly linked to the NLEX.  — RSJ, GMA News