Cebu City studying bridge proposal carefully

CEBU, Philippines -  Even as Cordova town broke ground for the third Mactan-Cebu bridge, the technical working group of Cebu City where the other end of the bridge will land is yet to review the proposal from Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation.

City Administrator Lucelle Mercado, head of the Joint-Venture Selection Committee, said the review will be conducted next week, clarifying that the city is not delaying the process and is simply following the standard process of review. 

“Dili man tungod kay nalangay. Nauna lang ang Cordova og dawat sa proposal from the proponent,” she said.

She said Cebu City’s technical working group wants to make sure that the city government will not spend anything for the project. The group has asked for documents from MPTC like financial papers to see if the company is indeed capable of undertaking the project.

MPTC is the lone proponent of the P16.5-billion bridge project that would link Cebu City to Cordova town.

On January 1, Cordova broke ground for the project at Shell Island in Barangay Pilipog.

Mercado said the technical working group will do its best to come up and submit a report to Rama also by next week.

“Paninguhaon namo nga after sa among meeting next week, makahatag nami og report ni mayor pud the same week,” Mercado said.

She clarified that even if MPTC is the only proponent for the project, Cebu City and Cordova are negotiating separately with the company.

In October 2014, the Joint Venture-SRP Cordova (JV-SC) group was created composed of officials of the two local government units. The group was created purposely to enable the officials to compare notes about the project.

Mercado said Cordova started with the review even before the joint venture team was formed.

“Usa sad gyud sa reason nga nag-una sila sa pagkuha sa proposal,” she said.

If Rama will approve the proposal, it will be forwarded to the City Council for approval so that the body can authorize Rama to sign an agreement with MPTC.

“After na ana, anha na ta mag-groundbreaking. Taas-taas pa nga process, but we need to follow it gyud,” Mercado said.

MPTC is eyeing to start the construction in the middle of the year. The bridge is set to be operational in 2018.  —JMO (FREEMAN)