MANILA, Philippines - Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), a unit Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), is spending around P2.3 billion this year for two major infrastructure projects.

MPTC president Ramoncito Fernandez told The STAR that bulk of the capital expenditure, or P2 billion, has been allocated for the Segment 9 road project which is part of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) concession.

MPTC controls the concession to the 84-kilometer NLEX.

He said the necessary right-of-way for Segment 9 is now being acquired and construction of the road project is expected to begin by the third quarter of this year.

The NLEX Harbor Link road project consists of Segment 9, which stretches from Cloverleaf in Mindanao Ave. to McArthur Highway in Valenzuela, and Segment 10 from McArthur Highway to C3 Road.

Segment 9 will connect McArthur Highway in Valenzuela to NLEX, while Segment 10 will link the same highway to Port Area in Manila. The two projects will span 8.5 kilometers. Segment 9 will ease access to McArthur Highway, the old route to central and northern Luzon, while Segment 10 will reduce travel time of transporting goods to and from Manila’s North Harbor.

Meanwhile, the seamless integration of NLEX with the 94-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) will cost around P300 million, and will be undertaken as soon as SCTEX is turned over by the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) to MPTC.

MPTC is still awaiting word from Malacañang on the status of the much-delayed final award of the contract to operate and maintain SCTEX.

Under the revised business and operations agreement with the BCDA, MPTC subsidiary Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) will operate and manage SCTEX for 33 years, while relieving BCDA of the heavy financial burden of paying the latter’s debt to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The JICA loan used to construct SCTEX will mature in 2041.