THE government body tasked with approving major infrastructure projects confirmed on Wednesday the approval of mega-bridges, including the proposed bridge project in the Visayas.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board said it has approved a proposed bridge project linking the islands of Panay, Guimaras and Negros, and another bridge connecting the provinces of Cavite and Bataan.
The proposed Panay-Guimaras-Negros Island Bridges Project will have a length of over 32 kilometers including connecting roads and interchanges.
NEDA said the project intends to provide a safer, faster, and more convenient flow of people, goods and services between the three islands.
The bridges, which will all be financed via official development assistance, were among the infrastructure projects the NEDA Board confirmed. Also approved were the MRT-4 and Edsa Greenway.
The Duterte administration promised to usher in a “golden age of infrastructure” by building new roads, bridges, railways, and modernizing airports and ports.
But the plan hit snags forcing economic managers to revise the government’s list of priority projects.
Last year, the government said it was no longer pursuing three inter-island bridge projects costing P161 billion because these were not feasible.
The shelved projects are the 18.2-kilometer Sorsogon-Samar bridge, the 23-kilometer Leyte-Surigao bridge, and the 24.5-kilometer Cebu-Bohol bridge.
Of the original 75 priority projects, only 2 had been finished as of July 2019. (ABS-CBN News)
