CEBU CITY, Philippines - The Provincial Board on Monday asked Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to retain the services of “key personnel” whom the provincial government hired to conduct a feasibility study on the proposed Trans-Axial Highway project.
Vice Governor Gregorio Sanchez Jr. said the services of these “experts,” whose contracts expired on Monday, were still needed in bidding out the project to investors.
“If we remove all of the consultants, I fear that, with modesty aside and without prejudice to the Provincial and Development Office, we will no longer have personnel who can handle the equipment (acquired for the conduct of the feasibility study),” said Sanchez.
He said P2.8 million of the P15 million allocated in 2005 for the feasibility study has remained unspent and may be used to continue paying for the services of the office staff and consultants.
The Cebu Provincial Board on Monday adopted the project’s progress report, which Sanchez presented. Legislators also approved a motion seeking the retention of some key personnel who conducted the feasibility study.
The Trans-Axial Highway project is expected to cost around P46.3 billion.
In his presentation, Sanchez said the provincial government needed to spend P400 million to P500 million for the acquisition of road right of way.
“This is only a minor expense compared to the income that the province would get from the land conversion,” Sanchez told the provincial board.
The rest of the project would be built through a Build-Operate-Transfer scheme, in which the developer will take on the project or a component of the project using its own resources, operate it for 25 years to regain what it invested, then transfer ownership of that component to the province.
Sanchez said he has furnished the Office of the Governor with a copy of the feasibility study so that she could present it to the Provincial Economic Enterprise Council, which the governor heads.
If the council approves the project, it will be offered for bidding to investors.
The project aims to build a 300-kilometer, four-lane highway running the length of the island, from Santander in the south to Daanbantayan in the north, going through Cebu’s mountain ranges.
Sanchez said the project would use and improve more than 220 km of existing roads and build new roads where needed.
The highway aims to improve access to basic services, disperse development to the countryside, and provide alternative roads to decongest traffic in Metro Cebu.
Rest areas with motels, restaurants, stores, coffee shops and parking areas would be set up every 50 kilometers.
Use of the Trans-Axial Highway will require a toll, with toll booths set up in different entry points.
Article source: Cebu Daily News
No comments:
Post a Comment