Clark Freeport opens first container depot

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ID-100135641The Clark Development Corp. (CDC) has opened a 3-hectare container depot at the Clark Freeport Zone to house empty containers coming from Manila and from Northern and Central Luzon in a bid to help ease overcrowding at Manila ports.

“This is the first container yard ever in an ecozone, and this is the first time in the history of CDC that we will be addressing issues on clogged ports and traffic congestion apart from settling the concerns of our locators,’’ CDC president and chief executive officer Arthur Tugade said.

CDC signed a lease agreement last weekend with CargoHaus Inc. to use the warehouse operator’s property near the airport at the Clark Freeport as a storage house for empty containers being shipped from Subic to Metro Manila, as well as to Southern, Central and Northern Luzon, and vice versa.

The agreement also designated specific routes for trailer trucks transporting empty boxes to follow to avoid traffic along the MacArthur Highway and other national highways in these localities.

CargoHaus chairman Alberto Lina said reducing the number of 20-foot and 40-foot containers along the roads by bringing them directly to Clark will help ease traffic in Metro Manila by 10%.

Importers from Clark, Manila, Bulacan, and other areas in Luzon will also realize greater savings since they will have to pay less for gas, parking and cargo fees, according to Lina.

Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president Arnel Casanova hailed the partnership between CDC and CargoHaus, even as he called for more such arrangements to take place.

“We at BCDA take pride that our family in Clark is doing well in uplifting our economy,” Casanova said. “You have seen how Clark has grown so fast and achieved a historical target that is not known before. Hopefully others will follow suit.’’

CDC is a part of the BCDA group, which is mandated to transform former military bases and properties into centers of economic growth in partnership with the private sector. – Roumina Pablo

Image courtesy of franky242 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net