Cebu Trans-axial road project needs further study’

BOLJOON, Cebu – The proposed 56 billion, 300kilometer Cebu Trans-axial Highway development project from Daanbantayan in the north to Santander in the southernmost tip of the province needs to be reexamined because the pre-feasibility study showed that the project is not financially feasible.

This was revealed by May Ybañez, executive director of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and infrastructure committee chairperson at the Provincial Development Council.

Ybañez said the projects needs to be restudied because some of its components are not financially feasible, which means the government will not be able to recoup its investment, based on a pre-feasibility study.

Other major components of the ambitious mega-project include includes a seven-kilometer seaport, a 550-hectare reclamation plan along the Talisay-Minglanilla-Naga corridor and four economic zones in Cebu’s 2nd to 5th Congressional districts.

Ybañez said a further study is needed to determine the commercial viability of the project and its components. The project can then be resubmitted to the committee for another review.

The trans-axial highway project was first proposed by the late Cebu vice governor Gregorio Sanchez.

The provincial government has reportedly already spent P60 million to conduct the pre-feasibility study of the project under the administration of former governor and now 3rd district Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia.