Bridges, roads, drainage top RDC-7 infra projects

Newly-appointed Regional Development Council (RDC-7) chairman, renowned international furniture designer Kenneth Cobonpue (3rd from left) listens to businessman Glenn Anthony-Soco II (2nd from left), head of the RDC-7 infrastructure development committee as Soco discusses proposed projects aimed at mitigating Cebu’s worsening traffic problems. (L-R) Melani Ng, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industries (CCCI) president, Soco, Cobonpue, National Economic Development Authority (NEDA-7) director Efren Carreon; Bohol Governor Edgar Chatto and Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

To connect the islands of Cebu and Bohol, Bohol and Leyte, and finally, Cebu to Negros with the construction of three bridges are among the top priorities of the Regional Development Council in Central Visayas (RDC-7) under the Duterte administration.

In a full council meeting yesterday, RDC-7 endorsed 10 infrastructure projects for funding by the national government including P60 million feasibility studies for the construction of the three bridges.

The top 10 projects endorsed by RDC-7 during a full council meeting, Friday, are intended for the four provinces of Central Visayas: Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor and Negros Oriental though mostly for Cebu.

The biggest chunk of the RDC-7 budget request to national government will be for the Metro Cebu Integrated Flood Control and Drainage System Master Plan worth P2.2 billion.

Newly-installed RDC-7 chairperson, Kenneth Cobonpue, said that RDC-7 will prioritize solutions to two of Cebu’s biggest problems which are flooding and traffic.

“That is really stopping our growth so the priority projects are centered around these for now. And from then on, we can move on and do the other bigger things,” Cobonpue told reporters.

The RDC also endorsed a P1.3-billion project to upgrade the Mactan Road Network in preparation for the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) project, better known as the 3rd Mactan bridge, which broke ground earlier this month.

According to businessman Glenn Anthony Soco, chairperson of the RDC-7 infrastructure development committee (IDC), road networks have to be upgraded in anticipation of a spike in the volume of traffic to and from Mactan Island by the time the CCLEX becomes operational in 2021.

Soco said 11 roads in Mactan Island including M. Patalinghug Ave., Quezon National Highway, Bantayan Road, the Mactan Circumferential and Punta Engaño, will be upgraded under the program.

Other priority projects endorsed by the RDC include the widening of Hernan Cortes Road (P526 million), V. Rama-Gorordo Diversion Road (P300 million), construction of a new hospital building for the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (cost to be determined), Mandaue-Consolacion-Liloan Bypass, Talisay-Minglanilla-Naga Bypass (cost to be determined), Tagbilaran-Panglao Bridge (P500 million) and the improvement of the Siquijor Airport (P303 million).

The list of priority projects were endorsed to the National Economic Development Authority (Neda) central office and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) central office for inclusion in the 2018 proposed national budget.

“We have so many projects and you know, not everything gets approved,” said Cobonpue.

“It’s important that we identify projects that people can feel right away,” he added citing as examples the V. Rama to Gorordo Diversion Road and the Hernan Cortes road widening projects as among those that will have immediate effects on people besieged with traffic problems in the cities of Cebu and Mandaue.

Other infrastructure projects presented during yesterday’s meeting, however, failed to make the cut and were excluded from the list of top priorities such as the Cebu Intra and Inter-Island Transport System proposed by the infrastructure development committee.

Soco said the project was based on a technical study conducted by the committee aimed to address the traffic problem in Metro Cebu, not only by land but also by sea.

The proposal which sought to establish a sea transport system linking mainland Cebu and Mactan Island was welcomed by Cobonpue and endorsed it for “support and funding consideration” by concerned agencies.

Among the routes proposed were Pier 3 in Cebu City to Muelle Osmeña Port in Lapu-Lapu City; Mepza wharf to Pier 3; the port under Cansaga Bridge going to Anton’s wharf in Lapu-Lapu City; and from Muelle Osmeña port to the port under Cansaga Bridge.

“I thank the IDC for thinking outside the box. We need more of this,” said Cobonpue, a world renowned furniture designer, adding that he is willing to design the boats for the sea transport system for free.