New Bohol Airport Construction Starts in May

Tagbilaran City (PNA) — Japan’s engineering giants Chiyoda and Mitsubishi target to proceed with the actual civil works on the New Bohol Airport in Panglao next month and complete the project in 2017.

Mitsubishi-Chiyoda Joint Venture, the main contractor, finalized the timeframe during the first stakeholders’ coordination meeting here last week presided by Gov. Edgar Chatto.

During the meeting, Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Director for Project Management Services Cielo de Eulin noted the details of the preparation to ensure no hitches once the actual implementation starts.

DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya sent Eulin in lieu of Undersecretary Julianito Bucayan Jr., in-charge of project implementation and special concerns, who had to be in China then.

First District Rep. Rene Relampagos, representatives of Japan Airport Consultant, the Local Project Management Team, officials of Bohol Water Utilities Inc. and Bohol Electric Cooperative (Boheco), and Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer Nestor Canda also helped finalize the details of the preparation.

Canda made sure that there will be no harmful impact on the environment during the implementation and operation of the New Bohol Airport.

At present, the contractor and its sub-contractor — the EEI Corp. — take double-time in processing the permits and clearances to be able to proceed with the civil works in May.

Eulin, for her part, assured to personally keep track of the processes that need immediate attention.

While the New Bohol Airport has been designed as an ecology-friendly airport, it will also level the province to modern service with a terminal of international standard that can accommodate one million passengers a year.

An expansion area has also been considered, based on lesson learned from the Tagbilaran City Airport that has limited space for expansion.

During the stakeholders’ meeting, officials of Mitsubishi-Chiyoda Joint Venture explained the technology airport special equipment to be in place, and the advanced Japanese technology that will furnish the airport with a photovoltaic power generation system and a filtering system “to avoid polluting the surrounding environment by drainage during construction.”

Once completed, DOTC will bid out the terms on the operation and maintenance of the New Bohol Airport wherein Mitsubishi Corp. and Chiyoda Corp. are also expected to participate.

The provincial government’s information arm — Effective Development Communication (EDCom) — said that employing locales, monitoring of the impact on the environment, and traffic management were also raised during the stakeholders’ meeting.

Both the local government units of Panglao and Dauis also assured to help facilitate stable supply of water and power during the construction period and onwards to the operation of the airport.

Representatives of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) also tackled the requirement of 75 trips a day for the transportation of materials from the Tagbilaran port to the site, considering that it will involve 240,000 metric tons of sand and gravel and other construction materials, especially when works intensifies by July, according to EDCom.

It was raised during the meeting that the shipment of the materials might require an alternate or temporary berthing pads for sets of heavy equipment and the volume of construction materials.

It must be located outside Panglao island, as emphasized by Chatto and Relampagos as concurred by Canda.

The Alburquerque port is being considered to serve as potential berthing pad. (PNA) SCS/ANGELINE VALENCIA/PJN