CEBU CITY, (PNA) — The Cebu Provincial Board (PB) has passed a resolution authorizing Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III to negotiate with Manny V. Pangilinan’s company, the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), to do a feasibility study for the bridge, at no cost to the provincial government.
Davide said the study will take six months to finish.
Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy assured the government will not spend a centavo on the construction as the project will be done on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme.
He said MPTC will implement the project, which will take three years to finish, Sitoy said.
The project will also include reclaiming a 300-hectare area near Shell Island, Sitoy said.
The MPTC will also develop a port surrounding the area, a possible source of revenue, Sitoy said.
The PB resolution authorizes Davide to enter into contract with MPTC chief executive officer Ramoncito Fernandez and the Municipality of Cordova, represented by Sitoy.
The feasibility study will include pre-development, traffic, engineering, and other technical studies, including design, construction, operation and maintenance of the bridge, the resolution sponsored by PB Member Grecilda Sanchez said.
The memorandum of agreement on the project described the bridge as third access linking the Island of Mactan to Cebu City. The bridge will include a viaduct, causeway and arterial roads.
Sitoy said one end of the bridge will be in Barangay Pilipog in Cordova, which is the town’s boundary with Lapu-Lapu City.
The other end may either be at the South road Properties (SRP) viaduct or at the mouth of Guadalupe River between Barangays Carbon and Pasil, Cebu City.