The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is set to award the contract to build the P16-billion New Cebu Container International Port to South Korean company Hanjin Group next month.
Elmer Sarmiento, DOTr Undersecretary for maritime sector, told reporters last week they were targeting to finish the project aimed at boosting trading activities in the Visayas by 2028.
Construction is set to begin before the end of the year, ending two decades of delays.
Japan International Cooperation Agency created the master plan in 2002, but it was only in 2018 when Manila secured a $172.6-million loan deal from Seoul.
Due to the delays, the DOTr had to go back to the National Economic and Development Authority board to seek approval for bigger financing requirements.
The Cebu port is set to rise on a 25-hectare reclaimed area in Brgy. Tayud, Consolacion. The project includes a berthing facility with a 500-meter quay wall length that can accommodate two 2,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit vessels; operating facilities and structures for containers; an access road and bridge; and a dredged waterway and turning basin.
Opening a new terminal is expected to support growing trade following interruptions from the pandemic and various conflicts from around the world.
Cargo movement up
According to the Cebu Ports Authority, cargo movement in the province rose by 1.84 percent to 67.52 million metric tons (MT) last year. This has also exceeded the 58.99 million MT it recorded in 2019, or prior to the pandemic.
Bulk of the cargoes were imports such as coal, clinker, wheat, iron and steel products, electrical tools and construction materials. These mostly came from Japan, Indonesia, Korea, Vietnam, Australia, China, Russia and Hong Kong.
Passenger movement via seaports in the past year grew by 26 percent to about 18.75 million. RoRo (roll-on/roll-off) traffic, meanwhile, rose by 7 percent to 1.65 million vehicles for the period.
Apart from Cebu, up to 200 new seaports are being planned and expected to be implemented by 2028 to improve connectivity in remote islands. Each terminal is estimated to cost P20 million to P80 million.
The Transportation department is also keen on building and expanding 14 RoRo ports across the archipelago. These include San Vicente Roro Port, Maconacon Port and Palanan Port in northern Luzon; Dilasag Port, Baler Port, Infanta Port and Catanauan Port in eastern Luzon; Cadiz Port, Ajuy Port and San Fernando Port in Central Visayas; Lupon Roro Port and Sta. Ana Roro Port in Mindanao. INQ