CCCI welcomes inspection, consultation on 4th bridge

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry has welcomed the move of the Department of Public Works and Highways to conduct an ocular inspection of the suggested alternative landings for the proposed 4th Cebu-Mactan Bridge and consult stakeholders in Metro Cebu first.

This developed during a recent online meeting organized by operators of business establishments directly affected by the intended landing on the side of Lapu-Lapu City that would connect to the airport road.

CCCI president Felix Taguiam, who attended the meeting last week and an earlier one last October 22, saw the need for DPWH, JICA and all stakeholders to thresh out and address all possible issues before proceeding with the project.

Taguiam said that there must be coordination since the tri-cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu are intertwined.

He cited the need for a holistic program for the future of Cebu.

“Maybe we have to realign again. The project that we started talking about, the fourth bridge, was done years ago. Right now, things have changed. We have to redesign, repurpose, reboot and see what would be the best before we tap into this project because this is something that will cost billions of pesos also to the taxpayers' money,” Taguiam said.

The CCCI president recognized that the project would make good development for the north of Cebu and underscored the need for an open discussion first, citing the case of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX).

“Imagine Cebu connected with four bridges already, and we will soon come back from this pandemic. Let us all just coordinate with each other. Let us make this a perfect one, a livable one,” Tagiuam said in a statement.

Jiichi Ohashi, team leader of JICA consultants, welcomed the upcoming dialog, saying: “We are very flexible and will listen to what is best for this country, not only for the Mactan-Mandaue side.”

The operators of General Milling Corp. (GMC), Island Central Mactan and Marina Mall lamented that DPWH proceeded with the Detailed Engineering Design (DED) last December despite agreeing with the JICA country representative last October 22 to check the alignments they suggested.

The group wanted to put on hold the DED and to continue with the study based on the ocular inspection and consultation with the stakeholders.

Efrain Pelaez Jr., operator of Mactan Marina Mall, said there was no proper consultation and public hearings on the matter.

“By the time they called us to a hearing, they had already decided where it should be. They did not even take into account the future plans of Lapu-Lapu City like the coastal road and the proposed reclamation. It is really too near the second bridge and will cause additional traffic,” Pelaez told The FREEMAN.

Johnny Almocera of GMC said they  foresaw a major traffic problem at the junction with M.L. Quezon National Highway that would delay travel to the airport and the northern coastline of Mactan and disrupt the movement in and out of the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ I).

“The traffic situation at the whole stretch of the M.L. Quezon Highway is already very heavy. Any addition of traffic coming from the proposed 4th bridge, as the landing design through airport road would show, will make it worse,” Almocera said.

He added more establishments would be affected in the area, including Cebu Yacht Club, Muramoto, Mactan Tropics Center, Days Hotel, the planned Hotel 101 of Double Dragon, and several restaurants in the area.

However, Almocera added that if the new bridge lands as the group suggested at the northwestern arc of Ibo along East Asia Utilities of Aboitiz Power, travel to the airport can go through the MEPZ service road along the airport perimeter. — JMD (FREEMAN)