CMNP tells of progress in Manila Skyway plan

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed toll road operator PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada (CMNP) announced on Monday that it had completed on time the first phase of the construction of the Metro Manila Skyway project in the Philippine capital.

CMNP Director for General Affairs Teddy Kharsadi said here on Monday that the recently finished phase, covering a 4.7-km, six- lane flyover and 7.1 km of highway, was 56 percent of the planned 22.8-km toll way project.

The recently finished parts of the toll road, the Villamore- Bicutan overpass and Bicutan-Alabang highway, was tested over the weekend by Philippine President Joseph Estrada, accompanied by former president Fidel Ramos and several Cabinet ministers, Teddy said.

Teddy said the company was expected to complete the entire project, 9.3-km of elevated road and 13.5 km of unelevated road, by the middle of June 1999.

The 22.8-km toll road project, construction of which started in April 1996, will open to public on Dec. 17. Expected traffic volume is 120,000 vehicles a day, Teddy said.

Total investment in the project's first phase was US$514 million, of which Indonesian and Philippine private companies put up $117 million, 21 percent of which came from Citra Marga; a Philippine bank syndicate paid $262 million and the remainder came from convertible bonds of the American Insurance Group.

The Metro Manila Skyway project will eventually cover 108 kilometers. It will be built in four phases and be completed by 2002.

Teddy said that the total investment for all four phases was still being calculated.

The Manila highway is CMNP's second overseas project, following one in Malaysia from 1991 to 1993.

CMNP, established in 1987, operates the 16-km toll road linking Cawang in East Jakarta, and Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta, and the 13.1-km toll road connecting Tanjung Priok and Jembatan Tiga in Pluit, West Jakarta.

CMNP holds 30-year build-operate-transfer contracts until 2019 for the Cawang-Tanjung Priok toll road and until 2025 over the Tanjung Priok-Jembatan Tiga toll road. Both are currently in operation.

Former president Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana is the president of CMNP but she claims to have a mere 4.4 stake in the company through her company PT Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada. The remaining stakes are owned by the public (35.8 percent) state toll road company Jasa Marga (17.79), and other parties.

Teddy said that CMNP had been invited to build toll roads in Pakistan, Eastern Europe and Mauritius.

Several of its projects, including the 36.5-km Waru-Tanjung Perak toll road in Surabaya, East Java, have been put under review by local authorities who suspect the company obtained them through political connections, corruption and collusion. (gis)