International shipping lines may be calling at a different port in Cebu in the future, though not within President Benigno Aquino III’s term, as the government works on the transfer of the international container terminal from congested Cebu International Port in Mandaue City to a new site in Tayud, Consolacion.
The Cebu Port Commission, the governing body of the Cebu Port Authority (CPA), along with its mother agency, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), is working on moving the existing international box terminal to Tayud, about 10 kilometers north of CIP.
At present, the government is considering whether to avail itself of overseas development assistance (ODA) in building the New Cebu International Port.
“If the Authority [CPA] will be pursuing the option of implementing the project through ODA, the estimated processing time will take more or less three years,” CPA general manager Edmund Tan told PortCalls in an email.
“If CPA will pursue this, then clearly there is no port to operate yet before the term of President Aquino ends,” Tan added.
He said the timeline will have to be determined right after the ODA option becomes final, adding that the ODA has a separate procedure and entails approvals from several authorities like the DOTC and the National Economic and Development Authority.
“As of this time, the undertaking is being handled by the DOTC,” Tan said, adding that CPA is waiting for advice from the transportation department.
The planned transfer of the international terminal was announced on April 3 by Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya.
A feasibility study conducted earlier by the Japan International Cooperation Agency puts the cost of the project at an estimated P10 billion.
As of 2013, the Cebu port processed 637,629.75 TEUs in 2013, according to latest data from the CPA. In the first quarter of 2014, it handled 166,699 TEUs in the first quarter of 2014.
The new terminal is being eyed to handle 500,000 TEUs annually.
Tan said that if the ODA option is chosen, another feasibility study will be carried out as part of the assistance package to determine whether to implement the project in phases and, if this is the case, the number of phases. — Roumina Pablo
