PHILIPPINES: Private partner Philippine Infradev Holdings has launched arbitration proceedings following cancellation of the 11 km Makati metro project in Manila.
The case filed with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre comes after the PPP promoter announced in early May that the project was ‘not economically and operationally feasible’. Its decision came following a land dispute involving a local council, during which the promoter was denied access to the planned alignment, stations and depot.
The US$1·3bn project had been taken forward through a PPP agreement between Philippine Infradev Holdings and the municipality of Makati City. The land dispute reportedly centred on whether some parcels of land needed for the metro were part of the adjacent Taguig district, rather than Makati.
Contracts for civil works to build the metro were awarded by the partners in September 2020; ridership was estimated at 700 000 per day. Local civic leaders continue to press for a resolution to the impasse, noting the benefits a metro line would have on the severe traffic cingestion in Makati, which is a major business district in the sprawling Filipino capital.
