PGMA orders construction of port in Southern Cebu

PRESIDENT Arroyo has ordered the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) to build a new port in Southern Cebu, especially in Santander town, which is included in the Roll-on-Roll-off Terminal System (RRTS) project.

photo by pangpong - Flickr
RRTS is one of the four components of the Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH), which was launched by Arroyo in 2002 to bring down the cost of transporting goods from one province to another.

Arroyo’s order to construct a port in southern Cebu was made during her recent meeting with Bohol local leaders.

The order was endorsed by the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) through Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) General Manager Oscar Sevilla who is also the CPA alternate chairman.

Connection

CPA General Manager Angelo Verdan said that he met with Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia last Jan. 21 to follow up on the progress of the talk between Santander Mayor Wilson Wenceslao and engineer Antonio Ouano, president of Sail and Trail Transport Corp.

The said company is the owner/builder of the unfinished Roll-on-Roll-off (RoRo) port in Liloan, Santander. Because the port is necessary for RRTS to connect Oriental Negros, the CPA wants to take it over and is ready to immediately start the construction.

Verdan said that once completed, more Ro/Ro vessels can be accommodated and more cargoes and passengers can be transported at the same time.

Completion

Garcia agreed that the Province of Cebu will take over the construction of the unfinished port after the issue of ownership is settled.

Verdan said that due to the urgency to complete and finish the port, the CPA has informed Garcia that it can reassume the lead in completing the project as it has available funds for the purpose.

The CPA estimates the amount involved at P25-P30 million, including reasonable compensation and/or reimbursement to the company owner in relation to the construction of the passenger terminal.

Garcia and Verdan agreed to meet with Wenceslao and Ouano on Feb. 4 upon the governor’s return from her official trip to Dubai and other gulf states.

The Santander port is the second Cebu port that Arroyo ordered to rehabilitate. The first is the Hagnaya Port in San Remigio, Cebu upon the request of Rep. Benhur Salimbangon (Cebu, 4th district).

Salimbangon made the request to Arroyo so the Hagnaya port will become safe to travelers.
Article source: Sun.Star Cebu

Dubai to build a new Cebu port

PRESIDENT Arroyo arrives today bringing investments from Dubai World, one of the biggest conglomerates in the world.

The President yesterday announced that the company, a holding firm that manages a portfolio of businesses for the Dubai government, will build a resort, a port operation in Cebu, and an industrial park on a 42-hectare property in the Subic Bay Freeport.

Dubai World has holdings in international companies that provide a wide range of services including transport and logistics, free zone development, maritime services, property development, financial services, and hospitality and leisure.

Its hotel and leisure arm, Kerzner, will build a resort in an as yet undisclosed location, the Palace said. The company owns a dozen luxury hotels and beach resorts, including Atlantis on Paradise Islands in the Bahamas.

DP World, the terminal and port-handling arm of Dubai World, already operates in Manila and is one of the biggest taxpayers in the city. Trade Secretary Peter Favila said DP World, which manages 42 terminals in 22 countries, would send a team to the Philippines to open port operations in Cebu as well.

Meanwhile, the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority has agreed to develop an industrial park in Subic.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the agreement with the Philippines would further enhance trade, investments and other commerce through the company’s network.

The company’s executive vice president, Noel Gulliver, said the agreement called for comprehensive planning and development of the 42-hectare property inside the Subic Bay Freeport.

“We will also help out in the marketing and promote to locators to set up shop inside the [zone],” Gulliver said.
Article source: Manila Standard Today

Cebu North coastal road may cost P2.3B

THE proposed construction of the Cebu North Coastal Road will cost the national government around P2.3 billion. The road project is a 9.45 kilometer highway running through the coastal areas of Mandaue City, Consolacion and Lilo-an.

The proposed road section will link the new Mandaue City central business district and government center and the new Northern Metro Cebu urban development area. The latter encompasses the Mactan International Airport, the Mactan Export Processing Zone and the Mandaue reclamation.

Jaime Pacanan, assistant secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), said that of the total cost of the project, only P100 million or 1.44 percent of the amount has been released.

Problem

Of this amount, P45 million goes to Civil Works (CW) while P55 million is for the acquisition of road right of way.

Pacanan said the requisition of road right of way is ongoing, but this has posed as a problem to the project. CW is scheduled to begin on September this year.

With the end of her term on 2010, the President issued a mandate to her Pro-Performance System Steering (PPSS) Committee, urging them to “be merciless in ripping through undue obstacles in the way of overdue priority infrastructure projects.”

Part of the road project is a bridge spanning 684.13 meters. Construction work is scheduled to begin in September 2008 and end on April 2010. The bridge will connect Bry. Paknaan, Mandaue City, along the Mandaue reclamation.

Update

In the 4th National Infrastructure Forum press conference held at Waterfront, Lahug, yesterday, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde gave an update on the status of the Arroyo administration’s 52 Priority Infrastructure Projects in Central Philippines. The proposed road project is one of these.

Of the 52, ten of the President’s infrastructure projects in Central Philippines have already been completed. This includes the ports of Jagna, Maasin, Tubigon, Ubay, Pantao, Siquijor and Limasawa also are the new Iloilo and new Bacolod-Silay airports.

Remonde, along with the PPSS committee, will visit the site of the Proposed Cebu North Coastal Road at 9:00 a.m. today. The road will provide a shorter northern route to the Mactan International Airport, passing through the second Mandaue-Mactan bridge.

Article source: Sun.Star Cebu

American firm interested in Cebu trans-axial highway dev’t project

An American-based company has expressed interest to undertake the P45-billion Cebu Trans-axial Development Project of the Cebu provincial government.

Quantum International, through its president Al Johnson, recently said that their company is “very keen on the wind power development” and wants to put up wind farms in three strategic areas along the proposed highway.

Cloverleaf Highway | photo by jaec flickr

The 300-kilometer four-lane highway would be undertaken through a build-operate-transfer scheme. Of the whole stretch, 220 kilometers cover existing roads that need improvement, while 80 kilometers will be newly-built.

This scheme requires the developer to build the project at their expense then operate and manage it to cover the costs and generate income over a period of time.

This multi-billion peso project has four components – wind development, water development, economic zones development, and the agro-environmental development.

Cebu Vice Governor Gregorio Sanchez, the man behind the project, said that Quantum International is the sixth company to have expressed interest in the said endeavor.

Aside from Quantum, other investors include the United Engineers of Malaysia, the Iranian government, Dubai World, a Chinese company and a Singaporean company.

By April 20 the investors will be submitting their respective bidding proposal for the project to the committee. The notice of award is tentatively scheduled on April 28.

However, Sanchez said that the winning bidder of this proposed multibillion-peso infrastructure project will be chosen based on their ability to develop all components of the highways.

He also said that concern for the protection and conservation of the environment is a “plus factor”.

The highway will connect all municipalities of Cebu, with Santander as the farthest point in the south and Daanbantayan in the north.

If the highway gets realized, it will cut travel time by 40 percent.

The project will tap at least 120 rivers in Cebu as water sources. Windmill farms will be created to provide power.

At least P440.6 million will be used in the acquisition of road rights-of-way and the highway itself will cost the province P13 billion.

Construction is expected to start next year and will hopefully be finished by 2013.

Article source: The Freeman

Staff from Cebu Trans-Axial study may be rehired

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

Cebu Trans-axial project report now with Eco Enterprise Council

Consultants of the Cebu Trans-Axial Development Project study yesterday turned over their report and the equipment used in the study to the Economic Enterprise Council chaired by Governor Gwendolyn Garcia.

The council also passed a resolution recommending the use of the equipment utilized in the conceptualization of the project.

The status report of the multibillion CTDP was presented to the members of the Provincial Board the other day during its regular session by Vice Governor Gregorio Sanchez Jr., the brain of the project.

PB members had approved said status report before it was submitted to the Council for further study.

The 300-kilometer four-lane highway, seen to connect all municipalities of mainland Cebu with Santander as the farthest point in the south and Daanbantayan in the north, would be undertaken through a build-operate-transfer scheme.

Of the whole stretch, 220 kilometers will cover the existing roads that need improvement, while about 80 kilometers of additional road will be built.

The highway is seen to cut travel time by 40 percent and disperse development to the countryside.

About 12 toll fee plazas will be constructed and a 1.6-kilometer tunnel will be built in Tungalub, Oslob.

Further, the project will tap at least 120 rivers in Cebu as water sources. Windmill farms will be put up to provide power.

Article source: The Freeman

Cebu Projects and Construction

The Cebu Projects and Construction directory will contain all major projects that are currently proposed or already under construction in the whole province of Cebu sorted by location.

While the list is being populated, the Cebu Projects and Construction Directory will try its best to gather all relevant information to present a comprehensive list of all construction activities in the city and province of Cebu including their developers, target date of completion, building use, etc.

CEBU CITY
Ayala Center Cebu Leisure Oasis (commercial center - Cebu Business Park - under construction) Ayala Center Cebu Annex 3 (commercial center - Cebu Business Park - proposed)
Ayala Center Cebu Annex 4 (commercial center, hotel, office spaces - Cebu Business Park - proposed)
Bigfoot International Academy of Film and Television Soundstages and Hotel (South Road Properties - under construction)
Cebu LDS Mormon Temple (Lahug Area - under construction)
Cebu Megadome (South Road Properties - proposed)
China Bank Headquarters (19 floors - office spaces - Cebu Business Park - under construction)
Citylights Garden Complex Towers 3 and 4 (2 x 20 floors - residential condominium - Lahug Area - under construction)
City Park Suites and Residences (4 floors - hotel & condotel - beside Cebu Business Park - pre-construction)
Creativo Building (8 floors - office, BPO spaces - Cebu Business Park - under construction)
Crown Regency Hotel (40 floors - hotel - Uptown Cebu - under construction)
eBloc (12 floors - office, retail spaces - Asiatown IT Park - under construction)
Elizabeth Mall Annex (commercial center - Natalio Bacalso Avenue - under construction)
G Tower (22 floors - mixed use development - Uptown Cebu - pre-construction)
Gaisano Capital South Annex (commercial center - Colon Street - under construction)
Grand Cenia Hotel and Residences (30 floors - residential, commercial spaces - Archbishop Reyes Avenue - pre-construction)
Highrise residential condominium by Sta. Lucia (Cebu Business Park - proposed)
Hong Kong Plaza Hotel (25 floors - hotel - Archbishop Reyes Avenue - under construction)
Hotel Le Carmen Annex (hotel - under construction)
JSY Building (7 floors - near St. Therese Parish Lahug - under construction)
JY IT Center III (12 floors - bpo, office, retail spaces - Gorordo Avenue - under construction)
Landbank Headquarters (10 floors - Cebu Business Park - under construction)
Lexmark Tower and Headquarters (22 floors - commercial spaces - Cebu Business Park - under construction)
Maxwell Hotel (5 floors - Escario Street - under construction)
Monterazzas de Cebu (subdivision - Guadalupe Area - under construction)
Mystery Project (back of Plaza Fair Colon - under construction)
Niño Paraiso (theme park - Shell Island - proposed)
One Mango Avenue (commercial center - General Maxilom Avenue - under construction)
Palazzo Uno (7 floors - commercial spaces - Escario Street - under construction)
Park Terrace Condominium (15 floors - Talamban Area - under construction)
Qimonda IT Building (North Reclamation Area - under construction)
Robinsons BPO Complex (bpo complex - Uptown Cebu - under construction)
Robinsons Land Mixed Use Complex (commercial center, 2 BPO buildings - North Reclamation Area - approved)
Santo Rosario Church Facade Renovation (Downtown - under construction)
Skygrow Commercial Center (6 floors - Downtown - under construction)
Skyrise 2 (12 floors, BPO, IT, office spaces, Asiatown IT Park - under construction)
Skyrise 3 (15 floors - BPO, IT, office spaces, Asiatown IT Park - pre-construction)
Sunsky Hotel (7 floors - Hotel - Apitong Street - pre-construction)
TG Tower (15 floors - BPO, IT, office spaces, Asiatown IT Park - under construction)
The Gallery (commercial center - Juan Luna Avenue - under construction)
The Persimmon (4 x 15 floors - residential condominium, commercial spaces - M. Cuenco Avenue - pre-construction)
The Strip (commercial center - Osmena Boulevard - under construction)
The Walk (commercial center - Asiatown IT Park - under construction)
Tower Palace (19 floors - residential condominium - Cebu Business Park - under construction)
Ultima Prime Fuente Luxury Residences (28 floors - residential condominium - Uptown Cebu - preconstruction)
Ultima Residences Fuente Tower 3 (27 elevator floors; 36 livable floors - residential condominium - Uptown Cebu - under construction)
Ultima Residences Ramos Tower (33 floors - residential condominium - Uptown Cebu - preconstruction)
Winland Condominium Tower 3 (26 floors - residential condominium - Escario Street - pre-construction)

MANDAUE CITY

Cebu Boardwalk Mall (2 floors - commercial center - Mandaue Reclamation Area - under construction)
Nature’s Suite (21 floors - hotel - Mandaue Reclamation Area - under construction)
Orange Hall Residence and Dormitory (Mandaue Reclamation Area - under construction)
Parkmall@168 (2 floors - commercial center - Mandaue Reclamation Area - under construction)
Robinland IT and Commercial Center (9 floors - office, retail spaces - Mandaue Reclamation Area - pre-construction)

MACTAN ISLAND/LAPULAPU CITY

Discovery Bay Resort and Residences (subdivision, condotel - Punta Engaño Area - under construction)
Eton Resort Mactan (mixed use resort-type development - Marigondon Area - pre-construction)
Imperial Palace Waterpark and Spa (6 x 15 floors - hotel - Marigondon Area - under construction)
Punta Engaño Chateau (Punta Engaño Area - proposed)
Robinsons Amisa (mixed use resort-type development - Punta Engaño Area - pre-construction)
Seascapes Resort Town (subdivision, residential condominium - Mactan Area - under construction)
Shang Mactan Town Center (retail spaces - across Gaisano Mactan - under construction)
Vidichi IT Complex (10 floors - BPO, IT, office spaces, MEPZ area - under construction)

TALISAY CITY

Gaisano Fiesta Mall Annex (commercial center - Tabunok Area - under construction)
Paseo Talisay (commercial center - South Coastal Road Area - pre-construction)

GOVERNMENT PROJECTS

Mactan-Cebu International Airport expansion (proposed)

P500-M six star hotel to rise in Daan Bantayan

CEBU CITY, Philippines - To complement the position of Malapascua island as a premier tourist destination, Cebu-based MSY Holdings Corp. is building a P500-million six-star hotel in barangay Agujo, Daan Bantayan, north Cebu.
Martin Philip S. Yeung, MSY Holdings Corp. chief operating officer (COO), said that the 18-room exclusive facility would be completed in the middle of next year.



Yeung said he was upbeat about Malapascua island’s prospects because of the planned opening of an airstrip in Daan Bantayan.

Rep. Benhur L. Salimbangon (Cebu, 4th district), his uncle, plans to implement the project, said Yeung.

His mother, Mariquita Salimbangun-Yeung, MFC Holdings chairperson, said she too was also hopeful that the airstrip would be built because President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said she wanted to maximize the tourism potential of Malapascua island.

The MFC Holdings is the umbrella company of the Salimbangon-Yeung group of companies, which includes the MSY Holdings Corp., the MCF Property Ventures Corp., Solid Partners Real Estate Developer and the Fairway Diamond Co. Ltd., Simplex Diamond Co. Ltd. and the Galleria Building, which are all based in Hong Kong.

The two-story high-end hotel will be called Kandaya, referring to a tribal chief who defended Daan Bantayan against the Spanish conquerors.

“It’s not that big a hotel but (it will have) world-class facilities and amenities,” Yeung said.
He said that Kandaya is positioned for foreign tourists who would like to visit Malapascua island.
A professional management group will be tapped to manage and operate the hotel.

The site of the planned hotel is a 12-hectare coastal property of barangay Agujo, Daan Bantayan, the northernmost town of Cebu about 129 km north of Cebu City.

Malapascua island is a 45-minute pump boat ride from Maya, Daan Bantayan.Article source:
Cebu Daily News