Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson remains optimistic that the Iloilo-Guimaras bridge link to Negros via Pulupandan will push through despite the lack of budget.
“A funding is always a concern of any administration. I think that is the reason why the build-build program of the past administration is only 10 to 12 percent successful,” Lacson said.
Former Senator Franklin Drilon earlier said that the South Korean government, through the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank), is considering providing a loan only for the Panay-Guimaras bridge portion of the proposed Panay-Guimaras-Negros (PGN) mega bridges project.
Drilon claimed that there are no possible lenders (at the moment) for the Guimaras-Negros (bridge) because that is the longer version and may need a bigger budget.
Lacson said they will start constructing first the Iloilo-Guimaras bridge link, for safety reasons, due to several sea mishaps that occurred in the past between the two islands.
“That is why they give priority to the Iloilo-Guimaras bridge, aside from being shorter and lower in budget,” the governor said.
According to a study of the National Economic and Development Authority and the Department of Public Works and Highways, the proposed Panay-Guimaras bridge will have a sea-crossing bridge length of 4.97 kilometers, while the Guimaras-Negros bridge has 13.11 kilometers of sea-crossing bridge length.
But Lacson said he is hopeful that the two bridges link, from Iloilo-Guimaras and Guimaras-Negros, will be funded together, noting that even the Regional Development Council requested the Negros Occidental Provincial Development Council to pass a resolution endorsing the Iloilo-Guimaras-Negros bridges project.
The PDC unanimously approved such resolution on Sept. 9 during its quarterly meeting./GB
