CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan — Airport experts in the United States, France and Singapore have joined forces for the construction of the New Manila International Airport (NMIA) project in Bulakan town in the province.
“SMC (San Miguel Corporation) has tapped international engineering firms to assist in project development and construction,” Raoul Eduardo Romulo, chief finance officer and treasury head of San Miguel Holdings Corporation, said during the Bulacan Investment Forum on Wednesday.
Romulo said they tapped the Meinhardt, which built Atlanta Airport in the United States; Jacobs, which designed Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France; and the Groupe ADP that regulates Singapore’s Changi Airport.
SMC will build NMIA on a 2,500-hectare area in Bulakan town, adjacent to Manila Bay.
Romulo said the NMIA will be the ultimate symbol of a modern and dynamic Philippines which will give rise to a sustainable urban center.
“It will raise the country’s profile and image as an investment and tourist spot,” he said.
Romulo said experts are also helping the company to ensure that the villages around the NMIA will not be flooded.
Based on a hydrology study, the topography and geography of Bulacan and its surrounding towns are prone to flooding.
With the help of Meinhardt, Jacobs and Groupe ADP, the broadening and widening of the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System (MMORS), the stream of Malolos and the Tullahan River in Valenzuela City will begin in early 2020.
“We will not allow our airport to be flooded,” Romulo said, adding that “in fact, as part of the project’s flood control component, it will have a 600-hectare water reservoir to absorb excess water and will be NMIA’s water supply and the surrounding aerotropolis.”
Meanwhile, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Assistant Secretary for Planning and Project Development Sheilah Napalang confirmed the PHP735-billion budget for the NMIA project, the largest infrastructure project under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Gregoria Simbulan, vice president for Central of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), on the other hand, said: “We must do our part for the Bulakenyos because in the future, Bulacan will no longer be the gateway to the north or the gateway to Metro Manila, but Bulacan will be the gateway to the world already”.
Guiguinto Mayor Ambrosio “Boy” Cruz Jr., president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) -Bulacan Chapter, said local officials have begun to prepare their towns near NMIA on the configuration of their respective infrastructures.