MINERVA BC NEWMAN
CEBU CITY – The team of consultants of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) through its team leader Jiichi Ohashi said they are very flexible and will listen to what is best for this country, not only for the Mactan-Mandaue side as they welcomed the upcoming dialog, consultation and ocular inspection to further discuss alternative landings and possible changes for the detailed engineering design (DED) of the 4th Cebu-Mactan Bridge.
In a September 10 virtual meeting with the various stakeholders and business operators in the cities of Mandaue and Lapulapu including the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and JICA consultants, they have convinced project managers to put on hold the detailed engineering study (DES) until after site visits at proposed landings and a public consultation are done.
According to Engr. Roberto Mendoza, assigned DPWH- Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) project manager for detailed engineering of the 4th bridge project that the JICA team with Ohashi will arrive from Japan on September 18 and he was advised to proceed to Cebu after the quarantine for the expected, dialog, consultations and ocular inspections in the next two to three weeks.
Ohashi, team leader of JICA consulting firm Oriental Consultants Global Co., Ltd., admitted during that online meeting that they started with the DES late in December 2020.
Operators of business establishments affected by the planned landing that connects to the airport road in Lapu-Lapu City (LLC) lamented that the DES proceeded without any site inspection and consultation.
CCCI president Felix Taguiam saw the need for DPWH, JICA and all stakeholders to thresh out and address all possible issues before proceeding with the project. “This is something by its nature we all have to coordinate. The tri-cities (Cebu, Mandaue, LLC) are entertwined and their economy should be connected,” he added.
Efren Pelaez, Jr., operator of Mactan Marina Mall
deplored DPWH and JICA during that Zoom meeting for having proceeded with the
DES even after their representatives promised last October 22, 2020 to do an
ocular at the alternative sites.
The operators of General Milling Corp. (GMC), Island Central Mactan and Marina Mall lamented that DPWH proceeded with the DED last December 2020 despite agreeing with the JICA country representative last October 22, 2020 to check the alignments they suggested.
The group foresaw a major traffic problem at the junction with M.L Quezon National Highway that would delay travel to the airport and the northern coastline of Mactan and disrupt the movement in and out of the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ I).
“The traffic situation at the whole stretch of the M.L. Quezon Highway is already very heavy. Any addition of traffic coming from the proposed 4th bridge, as the landing design through airport road would show, will make it worse,” Johnny Almocera of GMC said.
Almocera noted that more establishments would be affected in the area, including Cebu Yacht Club, Muramoto, Mactan Tropics Center, Days Hotel, the planned Hotel 101 of Double Dragon, and several restaurants in the area.
He explained that if the new bridge lands as the group suggested at the northwestern arc of Ibo along East Asia Utilities of Aboitiz Power, travel to the airport can go through the MEPZ service road along the airport perimeter.
“Traffic will be seamless, airport road congestion is avoided, no establishments will be affected, and those going to resorts in Punta Engaño, Mactan and Maribago will travel faster, especially from Cebu north,” Almocera said.
He noted that the new bridge at Ibo point will also provide direct access to several residential subdivisions, like also those in Buaya, Bangkal and Pajac, and subsequently ease the traffic along the first and second bridges.
The proposed alternative landing site will also provide direct access to the planned Mactan north reclamation project, he added.
Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard Chan and the City Council also opposed the airport road landing area and supported the proposed Ibo alternative through a resolution it adopted on March 4, 2021.
Pelaez’s group proposed the other end of the bridge to connect with either Umapad in Mandaue City within the area of the proposed landing, or and more towards Tayud and Cansaga in Consolacion.
The intention and rationale of the 4th bridge is for people from the north can go directly to the airport, cargo can move faster, especially when you open the new Consolacion port facilities. They don't have to go into Mandaue and the old bridges, Pelaez said.
Ohashi asserted that what his team accomplished over the past nine months would be wasted, but Pelaez questioned how they could proceed when the study was void of supposed site inspections and a public discussion.
The bridge is part of the “Build, Build, Build” program of the Duterte administration with a loan agreements amounting to P72B or 154.1 billion Yen for the 4th Cebu-Mactan Bridge and the Davao City Bypass Construction Project.
Its target completion date is in January 2028. DPWH secretary Mark Villar said the target for the groundbreaking of the 4th Cebu-Mactan bridge would be before the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term.
Villar visited Cebu on July 16 this year to check on the infrastructure projects in Cebu including the studies for the 4th Bridge being proposed to connect the Mandaue City Coastal Road (MCCR) to the Lapu-Lapu City’s Airport Road. (Photos: Google Images)
No comments:
Post a Comment