The P10.1-billion New Cebu International Container Port (NCICP) project, currently undergoing consultancy works, is expected to start pre-procurement for construction works this month, according to Cebu Port Authority (CPA) general manager Leonilo Miole.
Miole said he is hopeful that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, timelines for the project will start as scheduled within the year, as pre-procurement for construction works is seen to start this month and procurement for civil works around October.
The NCICP will be built on a 25-hectare reclaimed land in Consolacion town in Cebu. Once completed, NCICP will be the main international port of the province, with the existing base port in Cebu City—the Cebu International Port (CIP)—converted into a purely domestic terminal, Miole said during a virtual talk show hosted by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas.
In June 2018, the Philippines and South Korea’s Export Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) signed a US$172.64 million (P8.8 billion) loan agreement for the construction of a new international terminal.
The Philippines will provide a counterpart fund of $26.09 million (about P1.4 billion).
In December 2018, CPA’s mother agency, Department of Transportation (DOTr), through the Procurement Service (PS), started inviting firms to provide consultancy services for the project. The limited competitive bidding was only for Korean firms, pursuant to terms of the loan agreement.
READ: Consultants wanted for new Cebu container port
In January 2020, the contract for the consultancy works was awarded to Yooshin Engineering Corp. and a notice to proceed was issued on May 29, 2020.
The new port will include a berthing facility with a 500-meter-long quay wall that can simultaneously accommodate two 2,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) vessels; operating facilities and structures for containers such as a freight station and an inspection shed; an access road and bridge; and a dredged waterway and turning basin.
The loan includes procurement of cargo-handling equipment.
A new international terminal is seen as the long-term solution to growing volumes handled at CIP and is expected to enhance the transport infrastructure system for unimpeded flow of goods and services in the Visayas region.
Several feasibility studies, the most recent one by KEXIM, suggest relocating the new sea hub in Tayud, Consolacion, some 8 kilometers from the Cebu base port. – Roumina Pablo
