Review on 3rd bridge almost done

MPTC’s proposed P17-B bridge to connect Cebu City- Cordova under scrutiny by JV-SC Once the review and recommendation get the approval of the two mayors, the proposal will then by endorsed to the Cebu City Council

THE team tasked to review the proposal of a private company to build a third bridge that would connect Cebu City and the town of Cordova is expected to wrap up its work next month.

Cebu City Administrator Lucelle Mercado, who heads the Joint VentureSRP Cordova (JV-SC), said the result of their review and their recommendation will be submitted to Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy.

“Going through the papers takes time, but we agreed to finish it by early November,” said Mercado.

The Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) has presented and endorsed its proposal for a P17-billion third bridge to the officials of Cordova and Cebu City.

With the submission of the proposal, Rama and Sitoy formed the JV-SC, a group composed of officials and representatives from Cebu City and Cordova, to do the review.

The team first convened last Friday at the Cebu City Hall where they shared the updates of both local government units on the action taken.

“Right now, Cordova is a bit ahead of us; they are done with the initial review of the proposal,” said Mercado.

Even if Cordova was already done with its initial review, it will still be integrated with that of Cebu City to come up with a report and recommendation.

The group will find out if MPTC is eligible to handle the project as well as to determine if the proposal is doable. They will also determine the local policies of both local government units in undertaking infrastructure projects.

“We want to make sure that the com- pany that will do the project is capable of doing it because it’s a big project,” said Mercado.

Once the review is done, the group will then present this to Rama and Sitoy.

The team is reviewing the proposal submitted by MPTC. No other interested firms submitted their proposal.

Once the review and recommendation get the approval of the two mayors, the proposal will then by endorsed to the Cebu City Council.