Add'l P7B budget needed for LRT-2 link to Port Area

Extending the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) to the Port Area would now cost P7 billion more as its construction is behind by more than half a decade, latest estimates from LRT-2 operator Light Rail Transit Authority showed.

- By Elijah Felice Rosales

The LRTA said it would now require at least P17 billion to build the LRT-2 West Extension Project.

When late president Benigno Aquino III approved it in 2015, the project was pegged at only P10.12 billion.

LRTA had planned on procuring the contractor for civil works in January 2020, but the government had to push this back to prioritize pandemic response. Since then, LRTA has failed to obtain funding from the national budget for the extension project.

It was only this year that LRTA was given P2 billion to deliver preliminary works and secure right of way. However, LRTA administrator Hernando Cabrera said the project has yet to receive capital for construction.

"No funding yet for actual construction. Our focus right now is on relocation of power and water utilities and informal settler families affected by the alignment. Latest costing [for the project] is around P17 billion," Cabrera told The STAR.