CPA approves Capitol’s port project in Santa Fe

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu Port Authority (CPA) has approved the bid of Cebu Provincial Government to construct, manage and operate a new port in Sante Fe town.

CPA Commissioner Allan Alfon told Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia in a meeting at the Capitol recently.

Santa Fe Mayor Ithamar Espinosa said   he was elated with this new development as the provincial government is already complying with the necessary requisites for the transfer of port management.

“This is now the solution sa tanang problema sa sand erosion sa Santa Fe. I hope nga ma-push through na gyud ni kay naa naman mi share, kay karon wala man mi share sa CPA,” the mayor said.

Sugbo News, Capitol’s official news page, reported that the new port will be constructed adjacent to the existing Sante Fe Port in Bantayan Island, which is expected to remedy the environmental issues being experienced in the area.

Engr. Romel Pegarom, acting chief of CPA Engineering Services, told the governor that the new structure will be an entirely on-pile structure that will allow the unhampered flow of sand and water.

Pegarom said that they will be building an entirely new structure adjacent to the new one and then demolish the existing structure because the existing one is rock causeway. The rock causeway, in a report submitted by the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office to the governor, is the main reason why sand and water could not flow freely in the area, causing for uneven distribution of Santa Fe’s precious white sand beaches.

Pegarom said they will be using “40-by-40, pre-stressed concrete piles as these are easier to manufacture and also easier to drive.”

The total length of the new port is approximately 350 meters, more or less the same as the existing structure.   The three docking areas of the old port, however, will be spared from demolition as they are already standing on piles. — (FREEMAN)