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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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ILOILO City – The proposed revival of Panay Island’s railway system has not been included in the “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program of President Rodrigo Duterte.
The proposal remains in the “conceptual stage”, said Director Ro-Ann Bacal of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Region 6.
There must be a thorough study, she stressed.
Investors were also hesitant due to the huge cost that the revival would entail, Bacal added.
“When we started talking to business groups, they expressed apprehension most especially over the multiple handling costs when transporting goods through the railway,” she revealed.
Instead of a railway system, Bacal said, there’s a proposal to construct an elevated expressway from Iloilo to Capiz.
“We’ve been asking our representatives in Congress and even local leaders about their thoughts on this idea,” said Bacal.
President Duterte mentioned the revival of the Panay railway system in his first State of the Nation Address last year.
For his part, Iloilo governor Arthur Defensor Sr. said a previous study showed the railway system would not be sustainable.
The study was done during the administration of then President Fidel Ramos, said Defensor.
“The train to Capiz indi feasible, indi mabuhi and tama ka dako ang gastuhon. Ang isa ka option was the expansion of roads na lang. But we welcome the plan of the President to revive the Panay railways,” the governor said.
The Panay railway system operated from 1906 to the early 1980s./PN
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