NEWLY-INSTALLED Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) general manager Oscar M. Sevilla recently identified six roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) links whose development will be prioritized next year to improve efficiencies provided by the Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH).
The new links will cover the ports of Mambajao in Camiguin, Placer, Aroroy, Naval, Biliran and Cataingan in Masbate, and Donsol in Sorsogon.
Sevilla said the new links were along the three main components of the SRNH that the PPA committed to the Department of Transportation and Communications as its priority port development.
The port agency is conducting a feasibility study on the socio-economic viability of the ports and the hinterlands they are expected to serve. The development of the new links will commence early 2005.
At present, there exist a total of 71 ro-ro links distributed in six ro-ro phases. The six are the Pan-Philippine Highway Ferry Terminals or the Eastern Seaboard Link; the Western Seaboard Link; the Mindoro-Marinduque-Romblon-Palawan Ro-ro System; Trans-Visayas Ro-Ro System; Southwestern Ro-Ro System; and the Northeastern Ro-Ro Transport System.
The three main component routes under the SRNH, on the other hand, are the Eastern Nautical Highway, Central Nautical Highway and the Western Nautical Highway.
“These ro-ro links will enable the benefits of the major gateway developments to cascade to the communities served by the outlying ports,” Sevilla added.
After 2005, the PPA is also expected to provide ro-ro facilities in two different ports in Bataan, Mariveles, Bataan and Bonifacio, Mariveles, and make all major ports ro-ro capable.
Sevilla said the port agency is continuously scouting for essential links considered vital to economic development.
In a related development, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo inaugurated last week in Western Visayas several projects under the SRNH. These include the Tampi Ro-ro port in San Jose, Negros Oriental and the Cebu South Road project connecting Santander, Cebu via Barili-Carcar.
The 122.988-kilometer road project involved the rehabilitation and improvement of roads with funding from the Asian Development Bank and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
The president also facilitated the ground-breaking of the Toledo-Naga road project, a 34.8-kilometer arterial road of the SRNH linking Cebu’s western seaboard to Metro Cebu and the Cebu South Road.
