ILOILO City – The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in Region 6 pushes for both the revival of the Panay railway system and the proposed Iloilo-Capiz-Aklan Expressway (ICAEx).
Arecio A. Casing Jr., NEDA-6 officer-in-charge regional director, said both projects would have a huge impact on Panay Island’s economy but admitted that their realization rests on investors willing to fund them.
“The more options you have to travel (and move your goods), the better,” said Casing in an exclusive interview with Panay News yesterday morning.
However, the regional director said, the ICAEx appears more feasible. Investors only need to determine road alignments, he explained.
The revival of the railway system is more complicated because it entails, among others, the relocation of over 5,000 households living near or along railway tracks.
Additionally, said Casing, many major players investing in expressways in Luzon are Filipino, such as the San Miguel Corporation and Metro Pacific.
“Marami pa kasing gagalawin sa railways…sa expressway you just determine the right of way…(In) Luzon ang bilis nilang gumawa ng expressway,” said Casing.
A smoother traffic flow is expected through point-to-point loading and unloading and by prohibiting passenger pickup along the expressway.
Casing also noted that ICAEx will complement the proposed Guimaras-Negros Bridge Project, ensuring swift connectivity from Bohol-Cebu-Dumaguete-Negros Occidental- Panay Island or vice versa.
“If you are either coming from island of Cebu or Negros crossing the bridge and you want to go to Boracay, mabilis ‘yong biyahe. This is the connectivity that we want,” said Casing.
NEDA is also pushing for a Negros Expressway which, together with ICAEx, are the two projects the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) studied two years ago.
ICAEx IN A NUTSHELL
ICAEx is proposed to be a full-access controlled toll expressway with four lanes composed of elevated roadways, viaducts, a tunnel, and a long-span bridge. It has an estimated length of 210 kilometers, traversing 20 municipalities in three provinces (Iloilo, Capiz, and Aklan) in Panay Island.
Based on the initial information, the ICAEx will start is Barangay M.V. Hechanova in Leganes, Iloilo strategically near the approach of the proposed Panay-Guimaras Bridge Project. The expressway will end in Malay, Aklan which is the gateway to the world-renowned Boracay Island.
ICAEx has the following project objectives:
* reduction of travel time between the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, and Aklan
* elimination of congestion in existing highways by avoiding chokepoints in poblacion areas
* enhancement of logistics network to ease delivery of goods from source to destination
* improvement of delivery of emergency response in times of flooding as an effect of inclement weather
* provision of tourism development opportunities for various tourist attractions in Panay
CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) sets its eyes on ICAEx as being in the list of priority projects proposed for implementation through PPP in accordance with RA No. 7718 (BOT [Build-operate-and-transfer] Law).
On Aug. 24, officials of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Service of the DPWH led by Director Alex G. Bote visited the office of Iloilo governor Arthur Defensor Jr. to present the proposed expressway.
At present, Bote said, they are finalizing the Terms of Reference (TOR) and Estimated Budget for the Contract (EBC) of the project.
Based on the timeline, it will take two years before the project can begin, assuming that an investor or concessionaire takes the project.
Bote noted that the investor or concessionaire will determine if the project is economically and financially viable on their part./PN
