ILOILO CITY -- Members of the China state-owned company CCCC Highways Consultants Co., Ltd visited Iloilo on Wednesday for the pre-feasibility study on the construction of the Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridge.
Provincial administrator Raul Banias said the group was accompanied by officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
“They were here because they were authorized by their Ministry of Commerce to conduct the pre-feasibility study of the Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridge,” he said in an interview Thursday.
Banias said the company is based in Beijing, China. He said the company’s brochure shows it has a lot of experience in the construction of roads and bridges in China, including the recently completed longest bridge linking Macau and mainland China, which is about 60 kilometers.
“The pre-feasibility will take a little while that is why they are getting information and data from government agencies, including the province of Iloilo,” he said.
Banias clarified that all the expenses for the conduct of the pre-feasibility study will be shouldered by the company.
Specifically, they have provided the company the medium and long term development plan and the socio-economic profile of the province, Bania said.
The visit of the group here was earlier announced by DPWH Secretary Mark Villar when he led the inauguration of the PHP134.91-million Nabitasan-San Rafael by-pass road and the Php40.2-million Iloilo River Esplanade-Phase 3 last August 26.
He explained that technical studies to be conducted had to be thorough, considering that it will be a 19-kilometer bridge and one of the largest projects in the country.
Villar hoped they can finish the studies and plans and submit them to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) by 2018 for approval.
Villar said funding for the project will possibly be through the Official Development Assistance (ODA).
He said that they are waiting for the Department of Finance (DOF) for the financing plan on how to fund the project.
Villar also assured the project will push through within the term of President Rodrigo Duterte. (PNA)
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