BCDA hopes Global City-NAIA monorail will be included in govt's PPP projects

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) is hoping that the planned monorail from Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 to Mandaluyong via Bonifacio Global City will beincluded in the government's public-private partnership slate. If the project's estimated rate of return is high enough, it could be included for PPP, said BCDA president Arnel Paciano Casanova. The state-run agency commissioned two Japanese firms, Oriental Consultants and the Nomura Group, to conduct a pre-feasibility stufy to determine the monorail's cost and potential traffic volume. “The pre-feasibility study is over and the results will be presented to [the National Economic and Development Authority] next month,” Casanova told reporters Friday. Casanova added that while the economic internal rate of return is “positive,” the financial return was not as high. He noted, though, that the pre-feasibility study is basing the return on investment only on “user fees” and has not yet taken into account the possible funds that will be brought in by retail and real estate projects connected to the monorail. The planned monorail is expected to cost P70 billion and will run 12.56 kilometers from NAIA's Terminal 3 to the Metro Rail Transit's (MRT) Guadalupe station via the Bonifacio Global City. The project is expected to be completed by 2016. — BM, GMA News