Collapse won't affect Philippine deal: Citra

JAKARTA (JP): PT Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada does not expect the recent collapse of a part of the partially-constructed tollway between Tanjung Priok and Pluit in North Jakarta to affect its contract to build a toll road in the Philippines, an executive said yesterday.

Company Director Bambang Soeroso told reporters during a visit by members of the House of Representatives that his company is prepared to supply the Philippines with full details of the accident, which resulted from a shift in the scalfolding supporting the tollway.

The Tanjung Priok-Pluit tollway project belongs to PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada, which is 4.4 percent owned by Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada.

Minister of Public Works Radinal Moochtar said recently that two teams, one from Citra Marga and another from the public works ministry, have been assigned to investigate the cause of the mishap.

Citra Lamtoro, in cooperation with the Philippine National Construction Corporation and the Asian Infrastructure Group, is to develop the 83-kilometer Metro Manila Skyway Project, which will consist of the 47-km Metro Manila Expressway and the 36-km Metro Manila Skyway.

The agreement to construct the Philippine project was signed last month by Citra Lamtoro Gung's president, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, who is also president of Citra Marga, and Philippine Nationale Construction Corporation's chairman, Victorino Basco, in the presence of Philippine President Ramos.

Under the agreement, Citra Lamtoro is to make the study, the plan and to construct and to raise funds for the project, while the Philippine National Construction Corporation will manage the operation of the tollway.

Total investment in the Metro Manila Skyway Project, which will be completed in four stages, will reach US$1.6 billion. The first stage, construction of which is to start at the end of this year and will be completed in 1997, will be cost $500 million. (31)