A view of the CCLEX from the Mactan Channel in Cebu. | CDN Digital photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) Bridge Management Board (BMB) has approved the extension of the concessionaire contract with Metro Pacific Tollway Corporation (MPTC) and its subsidiary, CCLEX Corporation (CCLEC), for another ten years.
This was agreed upon by the BMB and MPTC after the local chief of executives of Cebu City and Cordova town refused to raise the bridge’s base toll fee to P90 upon its opening on April 30, 2022.
Engineer Ricky Dakay, the private sector representative of the board, said in a press conference on May 25, 2022, that this was the compromise Cebu City and Cordova took just to make the bridge more affordable.
After the delay of the opening of the bridge by more than a year, the concessionaire contract between the local government units (LGUs) and MPTC stated that the private corporation would have the right to raise the toll fee to cover the extra cost of the construction of the expressway.
“If they had their way, motorists would have been paying P95. CCLEC asked the grantors’ approval of an opening toll of P95, but Mayor Michael Rama vehemently opposed the proposal…he insisted that the opening toll be kept at P90 for Class 1,” said Dakay.
The construction cost went up to P5 billion beyond the initial budget due to the delays caused by the pandemic and the recent Typhoon Odette.
This additional cost could have been covered by the LGU grantors.
Yet upon negotiations with the LGU grantors, MPTC settled for only P3.3 billion of the added cost will be retrieved by extending the contract of the expressway.
Initially, MPTC asked for an additional 15 years, but the LGU grantors said that upon further studies, they could only grant an extension of 10 years.
With this, MPTC’s CCLEC will be managing the expressway under the supervision of the BMB for the next 45 years.
“We arrived that the fair and equitable extension should only be ten years. So 35 plus ten, so 45 years. I believe it is also advantageous to both LGUs because the concessionaire has to return the bridge at optimum operating condition. It may not be as good as new, but near as good as new,” said Dakay.
This also means that the turnover of the expressway to the government will be around 2067.
Dakay said that this agreement is in the best interest of the public as CCLEC will manage the expressway, build developments along it, and further infrastructure such as water and communication lines for the benefit of Cebu.
Not only that, MPTC vowed to build an on-and-off ramp from V. Rama Avenue to CCLEX if they see a desirable return of investments (ROI) from the toll expressway.
Mayor Rama has always wanted to connect V. Rama Avenue to the third bridge even during the initial plans drafted for CCLEX in 2016.
However, when former Mayor Tomas Osmeña took over that year, he refused to follow the alignment because it will affect residents of multiple barangays.
Rama is determined that this on-and-off ramp will be built to connect V. Rama Avenue with the CCLEX, but Dakay said this will be up to the MPTC to decide. /rcg
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