SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – Real estate developer A Brown Company Incorporated has partnered with the local unit of Malaysian infrastructure conglomerate AlloyMTD to pitch a proposal for a railway that would connect Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT1) and Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT7).
A Brown said in a statement that it has signed a cooperation agreement with MTD Philippines Incorporated for the development of the East-West Rail, which they will present to the state-run Philippine National Railways (PNR).
The East-West Rail Project was prepared by East-West Rail Transit Corporation, a group formed by A Brown and Private Equity Investment and Development Corporation.
Systra Philippines – a member of the Systra Group of France – is providing technical assistance for the team. (READ and WATCH: Engineers racing to fix LRT1)
Similar PPP project?
A look at the website of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center showed that the PNR is also implementing a similar deal through an unsolicited proposal of an unnamed consortium.
The rail project under the PPP pipeline will involve a mostly elevated 9.4-kilometer railway line from Diliman, Quezon City to Lerma, Manila.
The proposed deal will have 11 stations and interconnecting facilities with neighboring rail systems.
According to the PPP Center, the project aims to alleviate traffic congestion and encourage more productive activities.
The PPP project is “still under evaluation” by concerned agencies and has not yet been approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board.
The chairman emeritus of A Brown, Walter Brown, thanked the Malaysian and Philippine governments.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to be of service to the Filipino working class and commend the current administration for responding quickly to a need that has been postponed for too long,” he said.
“We commit to complete the project before the end of the President’s term,” he added.
“The East-West Rail Project is something that Metro Manila needs urgently because it involves moving people in big quantities. I think it’s a very important corridor because it connects to MRT7 and LRT1 and has a promising volume of riders,” said MTD Philippines chairman Isaac David.
Malaysia-based AlloyMTD is an infrastructure and construction group with operations in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Chile, and China. – Rappler.com
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