BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson remains hopeful that the Guimaras-Negros bridge segment will be funded.
“Funding is always a concern of any administration. That’s why the ‘Build Build Build’ project of the previous administration was (only at) 10 percent to 12 percent,” Lacson said.
0Lacson said he hopes the two bridges, Iloilo-Guimaras and Guimaras-Negros, will be funded together.
He added the construction will begin with the Iloilo-Guimaras link first due to safety reasons and previous accidents.
In 2019, three passenger motor bancas capsized in the Iloilo Strait, killing 31 people.
Since then, officials in Western Visayas have been actively campaigning for the construction of a bridge linking Iloilo and Guimaras to prevent more sea tragedies.
“That’s a priority because it is shorter and cheaper in budget,” Lacson said.
Last Saturday, Sept. 10, former senator Franklin Drilon said the South Korean government, through the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank), is considering providing a loan for only the Panay-Guimaras bridge of the proposed Panay-Guimaras-Negros (PGN) mega bridge project.
“There are no possible lenders (at the moment) for the Guimaras-Negros (bridge) because that is the longer version and may need a bigger budget,” Drilon said.
A bridge connecting Panay and Guimaras has been on the drawing board for decades but never materialized due to funding issues.
Drilon, however, said the feasibility study for the proposed bridge has been revised, too.
An earlier study was conducted by the Chinese government, but they eventually backed out.
“So the government had to look for a new funder. It was able to discuss and secure an agreement with the Korean Eximbank,” said Drilon.
This change in project financier necessitated a new feasibility study.
The Department of Public Works and Highways is the implementing agency of the PGN bridge project.
The Panay-Guimaras bridge will have a sea-crossing bridge length of 4.97 kilometers, while the Guimaras-Negros bridge has 13.11 kilometers of sea-crossing bridge length./PN
