MANILA: The Philippines on Wednesday approved a plan to build a new airport near Manila, in a bid to ease congestion with the capital’s existing airport operating at full capacity.
Philippine conglomerate San Miguel will build the airport in Bulakan town, north of Manila Bay, that will feature four parallel runways and serve 100-200 million passengers a year, a government statement said.
“This new international airport is important in helping ease the congestion of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (in Manila),” Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said in the statement.
San Miguel, which was the only company to bid for the project, will have to break ground on the $14 billion project before the end of the year and open for business no later than 2025, the statement said.
The company has said it plans to run the airport, which would be the biggest infrastructure project under President Rodrigo Duterte’s government, after obtaining a government concession.
The existing Manila airport, which has two runways, handled nearly 260,000 flights and served 45 million passengers last year, according to its website.
The announcement came after the close of trade in Manila. Shares in San Miguel rose 1.19 percent to end at $3.50.
Philippines approves plan to build new Manila airport
Philippines approves plan to build new Manila airport
- The new airport will be built by San Miguel in Bulakan town
- It will serve around 100 – 200 million passengers a year
58 still in hospital following New Year Swiss bar blaze
- Over half of those wounded in the fire in the ski resort of Crans-Montana are in hospital
- 21 injured people were still in Swiss hospitals, including 12 in Lausanne and eight in Zurich
GENEVA: A total of 58 people are still in hospital following the deadly inferno that engulfed a Swiss bar during New Year celebrations, Switzerland’s Keystone-ATS news agency reported Tuesday.
Nearly eight weeks on from the tragedy that killed 41 people and injured 115 others, just over half of those wounded in the fire in the ski resort of Crans-Montana are in hospital.
The National Network for Disaster Medicine told ATS that as of Monday, 21 injured people were still in Swiss hospitals, including 12 in Lausanne and eight in Zurich, two of whom are still in intensive care.
Nine others were in rehabilitation clinics, including eight in Sion, capital of the southwestern Wallis region where Crans-Montana is situated.
A further 28 patients are still receiving treatment abroad: 14 in France, eight in Italy, four in Germany and two in Belgium. Those 28 include 11 Swiss nationals.
Le Constellation, a bar in upscale Crans-Montana, caught fire in the early hours of January 1. Those killed were mostly teenagers; 20 of them were minors.
Prosecutors believe the fire started when champagne bottles with sparklers attached were raised too close to the ceiling in the bar’s basement level, igniting the sound insulation foam.
While those suffering the lightest injuries were discharged in the days immediately following the blaze, on January 5, a total of 83 people were still in hospital.
The bar’s owners, French couple Jacques and Jessica Moretti, are under criminal investigation, facing charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence.
Two others are also under criminal investigation: Crans-Montana’s current head of public safety and a former fire safety officer in the town.
Meanwhile former Swiss president Doris Leuthard will head the Beloved Foundation, set up in response to the “outpouring of solidarity” following the tragedy, the Wallis cantonal government said Tuesday.
“The foundation’s primary goal is to provide financial assistance to the bereaved families of the deceased, all those injured, their directly-affected relatives,” plus the firefighters and first responders who dealt with the disaster, it said.
The foundation will also support eventual memorial projects.
Wallis canton has put forward an initial one million Swiss francs ($1.3 million) out of a planned 10 million donation. In total, around 17 million francs have been pledged to the foundation.
