AN ACCESS road to connect the three main ports of Manila will likely be built in 2016, a Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) official has said.
However, the PPA official also said that the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) are still studying the roadmap.
“The roadmap is going to be up for the approval of the DoTC and NEDA,” he said.
Asked if the government has already presented the proposal to key port players, Mr. Miole said, “We sounded them off about that, and they were very optimistic about it. However, in terms of financial support, they have still yet to study the proposal.”
PORT TRAFFIC CONGESTION
Meanwhile, Daniel C. Ventanilla, Jr., NYK Fil-Japan Shipping Corp. general manager, said that logistics-wise, port operations in the country have been slowed down by the continuing traffic congestion in their operations.
“We continue to be challenged by traffic,” Mr. Ventanilla said in his presentation about logistics, adding that the government needs to rethink the current truck ban.
“There have been major upgrades, but we are still challenged by the existing truck ban,” he said, noting that the Metro Manila Development Authority could effectively impose a regulation instead of a ban.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chairman and Administrator Roberto V. Garcia echoed Mr. Ventanilla’s lament.
“Foreign investors come in and see this traffic; maybe they would say that this is not the place to invest,” Mr. Garcia said in his presentation.
Ramon T. de Leon, Pac-Atlantic Group of Companies president, said that the slow growth of the port operations in the country is due to the proliferation of obstructions such as road digging, the lack of truck holding areas and cargo rail system, the lack of road linkages between ports to facilitate faster deliveries, the truck ban — which limits port operations — and the overstaying of containers in the port area.
The government for, its part, said that it is studying the possibility of transferring some of the excess traffic to other ports.
“One of our most important priorities is shifting some of the excess traffic from our already congested Manila ports to our underutilized ports in Batangas and Subic,” DoTC Undersecretary Rene K. Limacaoco said Wednesday.
“We are now studying other methods that might be more effective, including a possible take-or-pay scheme. We will consider all possible scenarios and determine which policy would be most beneficial to all stakeholders,” Mr. Limcaoco said.
The official also lamented lackluster government performance in implementing its “master plan for transport” but vowed to improve much of the DoTC’s performance especially in port management.
“Although there were efforts in the past to adhere to such a plan, this was not fully and successfully realized. Sadly, previous developments in transport, especially in maritime infrastructure, were often beholden to political support,” Mr. Limcaoco noted.
Mr. Miole clarified that, contrary to the reports of the private companies, port traffic congestion does not exist.
“There is no port congestion…the congestion that they were talking about is the congestion in the roads. Manila’s streets are congested, that’s all,” he stressed.
The PPA officer added that the construction of the access road will be a part of the solution to the traffic congestion.
“The access road is a relief measure. It’s going to be a long-term [development],” he said.
“We want to do the access road within the terminals, which will link to the Harbor Link which the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) is constructing and will link the NLEX-SLEX connector because these containers do not have to run through the streets of Manila in order to access north and south,” Mr. Miole also said.
Mr. de Leon said that in order to address the problems in ports, the ports in Manila should stop expanding, and a diversion of cargoes to the ports in Batangas and Subic should be done.
“The Manila ports operate 98% of the total TEUs (20-foot Equivalent Units) in the country, while the Port of Batangas, which has a capacity of 400,000 TEUs, only has a utilization rate of 4.2%. The port in Subic also has a 600,000-TEU capacity but is only utilized for 5.6%,” Mr. de Leon said in his speech.
In 2012, Philippine ports handled 345,000 ships, translating to almost 1,000 per day, Mr. Miole said, adding that at least 50 million sea passengers go through the ports and terminals per year.
Source: Lorenz Christoffer S. Marasigan, BusinessWorld, August 15, 2013
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