PH ports agency proposes rail, barge links to decongest Manila ports
June 24, 2013 at 18:00
THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has submitted to the government a roadmap towards decongesting Metro Manila and developing seamless intermodal logistics corridors.
Hector Miole, PPA port district manager for Southern Luzon, said public and private-sector stakeholders are hammering out a program that will lead to a gradual shift of a substantial volume of international container cargo to heavily underutilized Batangas and Subic ports.
Batangas is two hours south of the Philippine capital Manila and Subic, three hours north of Manila.
Miole presented the PPA roadmap to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) for evaluation by the National Economic and Development Authority Infrastructure and Utilities Development Committee.
The same paper was presented at the Department of Justice-PPA forum on the ports last Thursday in which Miole said railway connectivity to ports along the Subic-Clark-Manila- Batangas corridor can be implemented by the DOTC, Philippine National Railways, PPA and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).
The study for such a program may take eight months to complete and could be implemented in three years, he said.
In addition to rail connectivity, dry ports could be established in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) through joint efforts of the DOTC, PPA, SBMA and the Department of Public Works and Highways. A separate study for this project could similarly take eight months to complete for implementation in three years.
“Our action plan also entails the promotion of barge transport for the Cavite, Manila, Batangas, Subic ports and they must be given tax incentives,” Miole said.
He said PPA will be working with the Maritime Industry Authority for such a plan, targeted to be implemented between January 2014 and January 2016.
Meanwhile, the PPA is studying shipping connectivity, feeder and transshipment potentials of Batangas and Subic ports, as well as the simplification of customs processes, particularly in line with the implementation of the National Single Window.
Port Users Confederation Inc president Dominador de Guzman pushed the development of a multimodal transport system, with a railway linking Manila with Batangas and Subic ports.
He said trucking costs from Batangas and Subic to Manila would be very high — at about P20,000 to P30,000 per trip — should the government push through with its cargo diversion plans.
“Transit time between Batangas or Subic to Manila is 2½ to 3 hours, which makes the turn- around time of trucks longer,” he said.
Source: Port Calls, 28 May 2013
