San Juanico lighting to be delayed

TACLOBAN CITY – The lighting for the iconic San Juanico Bridge won’t be finished before June next year. Department of Tourism Director for Eastern Visayas Karen Tiopes said the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) has not conducted the bidding for the project because its engineering team was still checking out proposals on which lighting system will work best for the bridge. “We all know that the bidding process takes quite a while. And we hope that there’s going to be a winner in the first bidding. If it’s awarded hopefully this year, I doubt if they can make it in April, but probably by the end of summer,” Tiopes said. It was earlier announced that the P80-million lighting project for the 2.16-kilometer bridge would be finished in time for the fifth anniversary of the onslaught of Supertyphoon Yolanda in November 8. TIEZA later said that it was not feasible. “No one has ever lighted a bridge that big here in the Philippines, so it’s really challenging. Even finding the right companies who would be interested to bid is difficult,” Tiopes said. She denied that politics was the reason for the project’s delay, saying it would benefit both Leyte and Samar provinces. “We are one in saying that the development will be equal for both sides because it is for the best of the region and not just for one place. In fact, the bridge is a symbol of our unity. Sana huwag tayo mag-isip kung sino ang makakalamang dahil iisa lang ang rehiyon natin,” Tiopes said. She also disclosed that the Regional Development Council (RDC) has created a multi-sectoral technical working group for the San Juanico Strait Tourism Development Area to look into the development of the area as soon as the lights for the San Juanico Bridge are installed. “We do not want businesses to mushroom there without regulation because there are mangrove areas around and the ecosystem is slightly volatile. We want that whatever projects that will be implemented they would follow our environmental laws,” Tiopes said. (Marie Tonette Grace Marticio)