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Monday, April 21, 2014

SMC: San Miguel eyes 2018 completion of MRT7

San Miguel Corp (SMC) expects to complete the construction of the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT 7) by 2018.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, SMC said the project has secured government approval to proceed with construction, adding that the engineering procurement contract has been awarded to Marubeni Corp.

The government however has yet to release the performance undertaking, SMC said.

The Department of Finance (DOF) will issue the performance undertaking - - a requirement for financial closure of a project that would be funded by official development assistance (ODA).

A performance undertaking represents a financial guarantee on the part of the government. ODA refers to foreign aid in the form of grants or loans that carry below-market interest rates and longer repayment terms.

"From there, the processing of the financial closure can immediately be initiated and is expected to be received by 2014," SMC said.

"Construction of the 44-kilometer road and rail transportation will begin immediately after this, and will take an estimated 42 months to complete," the conglomerate said.

The P62.7 billion MRT 7 Project involves the construction of a 22.8-kilomenter rail system from North Avenue corner Edsa in Quezon City, passing through Commonwealth Avenue, Regalado Avenue and Quirino Highway up to the proposed Intermodal Transportation Terminal in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

This project will cover 14 stations. The railway will serve an estimated two million commuters in the northern parts of Quezon and Caloocan cities.

Apart from the elevated transport system, the proponent, Universal LRT Corp (ULC) will also build at no cost to the government a 17-kilometer, six-lane asphalt access road in Marilao, Bulacan that will lead to its depot in Tala. SMC controls ULC.

- Interaksyon

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