6 firms eye Pasig River ferry service
Inquirer News Service
SIX PRIVATE companies are interested in running ferry services along the Pasig River once the government completes the construction of 13 boat stations from Manila to Marikina City.
Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin said the national government would finance the construction of the 13 ferry stations, but would leave the ferry operations to the private sector.
Building each station would cost between P3 and P4 million, she said. The government would charge ferry operators a fee each time they dock at the stations. This early, there are plans to put up stations all the way to Laguna Lake.
"We will not repeat the mistakes of the past. The previous ferry projects were designed to fail," said the budget chief. The government is now on its third attempt to revive the ferry system.
Boncodin, Transport Secretary Leandro Mendoza and a representative of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chair Bayani Fernando signed a memorandum of agreement Wednesday to launch the ystem, one of the priority projects of the Arroyo administration.
"There are six groups interested in the ferry project. But we would know the final list by next month," said Transport Undersecretary Agustin Bengzon.
He said interested parties would have to invest about P5 million for each vesselthat plies the Pasig River.
Mendoza said the government would provide incentives to ferry operators such as exemptions from franchise fees and other charges. The operators could also qualify for import tax and tariff exemption.
Bengzon said the Pasig River ferry stations could be operational by the end of the year.
The stations would be equipped with amenities like air-conditioning, comfortable waiting areas, a ticketing system, scanners and metal detectors, comfort rooms, vendo machines and elevators for the disabled.
Reviving ferry services along the Pasig River would provide an alternative mode of transport and help decongest the traffic-choked roads of Metro Manila.
http://news.inq7.net/metro/index.ph...&story_id=11645
http://news.inq7.net/metro/index.ph...&story_id=25538
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from sandrin. :cheers:
now... here goes anything that moves people and their materials, using waterways from rivers to seas.
Inquirer News Service
SIX PRIVATE companies are interested in running ferry services along the Pasig River once the government completes the construction of 13 boat stations from Manila to Marikina City.
Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin said the national government would finance the construction of the 13 ferry stations, but would leave the ferry operations to the private sector.
Building each station would cost between P3 and P4 million, she said. The government would charge ferry operators a fee each time they dock at the stations. This early, there are plans to put up stations all the way to Laguna Lake.
"We will not repeat the mistakes of the past. The previous ferry projects were designed to fail," said the budget chief. The government is now on its third attempt to revive the ferry system.
Boncodin, Transport Secretary Leandro Mendoza and a representative of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chair Bayani Fernando signed a memorandum of agreement Wednesday to launch the ystem, one of the priority projects of the Arroyo administration.
"There are six groups interested in the ferry project. But we would know the final list by next month," said Transport Undersecretary Agustin Bengzon.
He said interested parties would have to invest about P5 million for each vesselthat plies the Pasig River.
Mendoza said the government would provide incentives to ferry operators such as exemptions from franchise fees and other charges. The operators could also qualify for import tax and tariff exemption.
Bengzon said the Pasig River ferry stations could be operational by the end of the year.
The stations would be equipped with amenities like air-conditioning, comfortable waiting areas, a ticketing system, scanners and metal detectors, comfort rooms, vendo machines and elevators for the disabled.
Reviving ferry services along the Pasig River would provide an alternative mode of transport and help decongest the traffic-choked roads of Metro Manila.
http://news.inq7.net/metro/index.ph...&story_id=11645
http://news.inq7.net/metro/index.ph...&story_id=25538
-----------------------------------------------------------
from sandrin. :cheers:
now... here goes anything that moves people and their materials, using waterways from rivers to seas.