Iloilo-Guimaras-Negros span project study starts

CEBU, Philippines - The feasibility study to connect Iloilo-Guimaras-Negros is now being started, according to Negros Occidental 3rd district Representative Alfredo Benitez. It will be China, which will fund the project, Benitez added.

Benitez said the feasibility study also included the coastal road in the 3rd district of Negros Occidental. But he said the feasibility study will include first the bridge connecting Iloilo to Guimaras, which is about 2.6 kilometers long.

The proposal to connect Iloilo to Negros started during the administration of then president Corazon Aquino. It was also cropped up during the administrations of Presidents Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III.

Benitez said China is the best bridge builder in the world. He said he was told by the Chinese ambassador Zhao Jianhua in a dialog Sunday night that the 2- to 3-kilometer distance is “peanuts,” as the bridge connecting Macau and Hongkong is longer. (FREEMAN)