Infrastructure package includes bridge connecting Negros Oriental and Cebu

By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The proposed Negros-Guimaras-Panay Bridge is currently awaiting approval from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) before construction can commence, according to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.

In a radio interview yesterday morning, he said the project is one of eight proposed bridges, with a total estimated value of P269 billion, expected to boost the economies of the Visayas and Mindanao.

Aside from the Negros-Guimaras-Panay Bridge, a proposed 5.5-kilometer bridge connecting Negros Oriental and Cebu is also included in the project.

Dominguez added, the bridges are among the 75 “big infrastructure projects” proposed through the Build, Build, Build program, a project by the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Earlier, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, a leading proponent for the project, said the bridges would “greatly boost tourism in Visayas.”

He said, “[Tourists] can enjoy breakfast in Boracay, lunch in Negros, and dinner in Bohol, in just one day of traveling.”

However, Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) President Frank Carbon earlier expressed his opposition to the project, stating the money for the construction of the bridge would be best used for building schools and improving irrigation for far-flung areas of Negros./DGB, WDJ