Sta. Barbara readies ‘Plan B’
‘Pangasinan Airport War’
THE people of Sta. Barbara will neither cry nor raise hell if the proposed airport project in their town does not push through, according to Mayor Reynaldo Velasco.
Velasco, speaking at the KBP Forum on Thursday, said the airport is part of the municipal government’s Plan A and if that is not realized, they have a Plan B and even a Plan C to fall back on.
Plan B consists of developing the road network in Leet, a declared Agrarian Reform Community.
Velasco, a retired three-star police general, was quick to point out, however, that his administration remains undeterred in its position that Sta. Barbara, particularly Barangay Leet, is the most ideal location, geographically and technically superior for an airport in the province.
But at the same time he acknowledges that funding is a major problem.
The mayor said the municipal government has already asked Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman to fund the construction of a bridge that will cross Barangay Matic-Matic to connect it to the MacArthur Highway.
Leet, has 500 hectares of land available to be developed for the airport project, to make the town another “gateway to the world”.
At the same time, Velasco revealed that the National Irrigation Administration is now developing the irrigation system crossing Leet that extends towards Urdaneta City, whose embankment on both sides is six meters wide.
“These will not just become barangay roads but we will later request to convert these into national roads that will connect Sta. Barbara to the terminal of SCTEx (Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway),” said Velasco.
The SCTEx presently starts from La Paz, Tarlac and will soon extend to Carmen, Rosales, Pangasinan, and eventually to Rosario, La Union.
“We can still attain our dream to become the gateway to the world by being close to Clark and Subic if the airport project fails,” Velasco said.
Velasco said he will coordinate soon with the Pangasinan Development Council and the Urdaneta City Development Council in order to link the proposed road in Sta. Barbara to the proposed SCTEx terminal in Urdaneta.—LM
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