NEWSFLASH

CLARK AIRPORT OPERATIONAL BY 2002

Clark Field, Pampanga, July 20, 2000 - A $10-million super radar will soon be procured by the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) for installation at the Clark International Airport (CIA) in preparation for its projected operations in 2002.

BCDA chairman Franco Puzon, acting president and chief executive officer of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC), said that in the meantime, his administration would focus its priority to convert CIA for cargo operations by setting up warehouses and necessary cargo facilities.

Earlier, CIA corporation executive vice president Salvador Arceo confirmed that three US-based top radar manufacturing firms have offered to construct the radar system: Raytheon, Air System and Northrop.

Puzon said that as soon as necessary warehouses and other cargo facilities are established at CIA, CDC would start building a main passenger terminal and lengthening its two 3.2 kilometer parallel runways.

The CIA complex is about 2,500 hectares, larger than the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and the international airports in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Central Luzon officials have been urging the Estrada administration to develop CIA as an alternative international airport, considering its strategic location and sufficient space for expansion.

Central Luzon officials point out that it would be more expensive for government to look for other possible sites for a second international airport in Luzon outside the Clark Special Economic Zone.

Chairman Felicito Payumo of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is pushing for the inclusion of the Clark airport as a major component of the Central Luzon Growth Corridor.

The Luzon chapter of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) headed by Mayor Lilia G. Pineda of Lubao, Pampanga has also been batting for the conversion of the Clark airport as the next premier international airport. Pineda said that Clark airport has many advantages that can spur economic development in Central Luzon.