NEW AIRPORT. The terminal building of Catarman Airport in Northern Samar. The Northern Samar provincial government is eyeing to partner with Aboitiz InfraCapital for the development of a new airport in the province amid growing renewable energy investments. (Photo from Catarman Airport FB Page)
TACLOBAN CITY – A team from Aboitiz InfraCapital is set to visit the proposed site of a new airport in Pambujan, Northern Samar in March following a meeting with provincial government officials last week.
John Allen Berbon, chief of the Northern Samar provincial economic development and investment promotions office, said the local government approached the firm to explore the feasibility of building a state-of-the-art airport to meet future demands.
“Officials from the Board of Investments (BOI) presented the idea of establishing a new airport in Northern Samar to prepare for the projected increase in tourism. This development comes as renewable energy companies express their interest in investing in Northern Samar,” Berbon said in a phone interview Tuesday.
Governor Edwin Ongchuan and key officials from Aboitiz InfraCapital and BOI had a meeting last January 25 to talk about the potential partnership.
Last year, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said it is looking at the possibility of relocating the Catarman airport in Northern Samar to Pambujan, located around 37 kilometers east of Catarman, to pave the way for the proposed airport expansion program.
CAAP said the expansion of the existing domestic airport in Catarman is not feasible because a large portion of the airport complex is part of a military reservation.
It said the Catarman airport is the only airport in the region with a national highway crossing the runway.
It added that there are main roads on both ends of the runway and vehicles are allowed to cross the airport runway in between flights.
The proposed Northern Samar Airport was endorsed by the National Economic and Development Authority.
Meanwhile, Danish firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) recently announced that it is investing some PHP108 billion to develop the 650 megawatt (MW) offshore wind power project in Northern Samar.
A 206MW onshore wind project by Aboitiz Renewables Inc. and Vena Energy is ongoing in San Isidro town.
PhilTower Consortium Inc., one of the country’s leading digital shared infrastructures, is also set to build over 100 common cell sites in Northern Samar this year to boost connectivity in the province. (PNA)
