The tollway unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. expects to sign within the month the joint venture agreement with Cebu government for the P27.9-billion third bridge between Mactan Island and mainland Cebu after the provincial council approved it.
“We were in Cebu City [Thursday last week], we presented to the Cebu City council and actually in the meeting, the Cebu City council approved the project and granted the mayor the authority to sign the joint venture agreement,” said Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. president Rodrigo Franco.
Franco said the company expects to sign the joint venture agreement with the Cebu City government within the month.
“After the signing, we have to fulfil approval from the PRA [Philippine Reclamation Authority], TRB [Toll Regulatory Board] and we have until the end of the year to secure that,” he added.
Franco said the company planned to start the construction of the Cebu-Codova Bridge in the second half of next year and complete it by 2020.
Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. secured the notices of award from both the City of Cebu and the Municipality of Cordova for the financing, design, construction, implementation, operation and maintenance of the Cebu-Cordova Bridge tollroad subject to compliance with conditions.
MPTC obtained the original proponent status for the proposed Cebu-Cordova bridge project from Cebu City and the municipality of Cordova in January 2015.
The project spans 8.3 kilometers, which will link the island of Mactan to mainland Cebu through the municipality of Cordova.
The Metro Pacific Group, which corners 60 percent of the Philippines’ toll road industry, operates North Luzon Expressway, Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway and the Manila Cavite Expressway.
The Metro Pacific Group is also the proponent of a road link project, which involves the construction of an eight-kilometer, four-lane toll road that will link the existing NLEx and SLEx, passing through Metro Manila and using the existing Philippine National Railway alignment as its route.
The Public Works Department will implement the project, which has a total estimated cost of P23.2 billion and a concession period of 35 years.
The Swiss Challenge for the project is scheduled in the third quarter of 2016.
Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp., which is separately constructing the P26.7-billion Skyway Stage 3 Project, will construct the five-kilometer common alignment from Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Sta. Mesa, Manila to Buendia in Makati City of the NLEx-SLEx project.
MPIC also won the P35.4-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway project, which involves the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of a four-lane, 47-kilometer closed-system toll expressway connecting Manila-Cavite Expressway and South Luzon Expressway.
The expressway will start from Cavitex in Kawit, Cavite and end at the SLEx-Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna.
