Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III has set aside P2 million in the 2015 Capitol budget to bankroll the operations of a technical working group (TWG) that will conduct a feasibility study for the Trans-Axial Highway project.
“The fund will be spent on transportation and food for the staff when they go around the province to check on the possibilities to open new roads,” Davide told reporters Friday.
The proposed 300-kilometer highway, estimated to cost P56 billion, has been on the drawing board since 2007 as a pet project of the late vice governor Greg Sanchez Jr.
It aims to connect Cebu’s northernmost part of Daanbantayan town and the southernmost part in Santander town.
A Malaysian company submitted an initial proposal and offered to conduct a study at no cost to the Cebu provincial government earlier this year.
With this, the provincial government saved over P9 million intended for the project’s pre-implementation expenses earlier this year.
Davide said he would welcome more proposals and investors, because of the project’s high cost. So far the Malaysian firm is the only one that has submitted a proposal.
In his first state of the province address this year, Davide said he wanted to undertake the Trans-Axial Highway before his term ends in 2016.
The project includes a 550-hectare reclamation area from Talisay City to Minganilla town then to the City of Naga.
It also includes a seaport covering a seven-kilometer area and economic zones in the second to fifth districts of Cebu.