DOTC Celebrates 115TH Anniversary With Start Of Two Major Infra Projects

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) celebrates its 115th founding anniversary this week with the start of two (2) major infrastructure projects: the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 (MMS 3) project and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 Rehabilitation.

“We are very happy to celebrate the DOTC’s anniversary with the start these major works. These are our gifts to the public,” said DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the P 26.59 Billion MMS 3 project was held today, 22 January 2014. This project entails a 14.82-kilometer, mostly 6-lane elevated highway extension of the Skyway from Buendia, Makati to Balintawak, Quezon City.

It is expected to decongest traffic on EDSA and other major thoroughfares in the metropolis by about 55,000 vehicles daily, and cut travel time from Buendia to Balintawak from almost two (2) hours to only twenty (20) minutes. Construction will begin in April 2014, and will be completed by April 2017.

Another major project is the much-awaited P 1.3 Billion NAIA-1 Rehab, which is also beginning this week. This project involves the structural retrofitting, improvement of mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire (MEPF) protection facilities, and architectural works of the decades-old terminal building.

D.M. Consunji, Inc., which was awarded the contract to undertake the rehabilitation works by the transport agency last December, will have until January 2015 to complete the project. This will mean that over the course of its implementation, certain areas of the terminal building will be closed for renovation.

These closures will be done in six (6) phases of sixty (60) days each, and will be overseen by the DOTC and directly supervised by the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).

Preparations are now underway at NAIA Terminal 1, with affected concessionaires already clearing the area covered by Phase 1 of the project. Passengers will feel its impact beginning tomorrow, 23 January 2014, when the initial areas will be boarded up and actual rehabilitation works begin.

“We appeal for patience and cooperation from passengers taking Terminal 1. These minor inconveniences will result in a much-improved NAIA, with better facilities and services for the public, in a year’s time,” added Abaya.

The MMS 3 and NAIA-1 Rehab projects are part of the DOTC’s program to modernize the country’s transportation systems by delivering convenient, safe, efficient, and reliable services to the public.