Bohol-Cebu bridge on

Bohol-Cebu Friendship Bridge design

If the new Bohol Airport which construction will start this month took decades before it got implemented, the proposed Bohol-Cebu Friendship bridge is forecast not to take that long considering the economic viability of the project.

This was the identical statement issued by Gov. Edgar Chatto and Rep.Aris Aumentado who are both bullish about the realization of the project.

Rep. Aumentado said initial meetings were already conducted among three Philippine based  and a foreign investor who are interested to work on the project under the Private Public Project modality. The young solon told The Chronicle last Friday that he wants to “make a dream come true” of his late father, Erico Aumentado in whose term as governor this project was conceptualized.

The proposed 22-km. bridge  linking  the two provinces will be connected from Getafe town in Bohol and Cordova, Mactan in Cebu.

It may be  recalled that it was during the term of the late Gov. Aumentado that the idea of a bridge linking Bohol and Cebu was thought about. The Chronicle was privy to the start of the project’s conceptualization which the late governor termed as the “3-in-1″ project. The business components of the project includes water, power, trade and commerce.

This  “3-in-1″ project which is a 22 km. bridge will make possible the selling of  water from Inabanga River to Mactan through a water pipe attached to the bridge and at the same time bring in cheaper power from Cebu to Bohol. The third component which would make the Friendship Bridge even more economically viable is the income to be derived through the trade and commerce bringing in goods and commuters as well as tourists between the two bustling provinces of Central Visayas.

Rep. Aumentado is scheduled to meet  interested investors of the  project which is estimated to cost some $2.5 billion using a floating bridge technology with an viaduct. Because of the huge investment in implementing the project, the fund is expected to come from private investors who at this early stage found the economic viability of the project.

The solon said  private investors have shown interest in the project. He even quoted some investors saying the bridge to be more economically viable than the new airport in Panglao.

Rep. Aumentado said the investors, once organized, would conduct the feasibility project  which is expected to be completed in a couple of years.  The “corporate vehicle” is expected to be established during the meeting at the end of this month in Manila.

For his part,  Gov, Chatto when interviewed by The Chronicle said he endorsed the project for funding during a meeting held last Tuesday with the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and the Department of Budget as well as with other national government agencies at the NEDA Central offices in Manila. He said the proposed bridge is among the projects being considered to be funded in the 2016 General Appropriations Act of the national government. --- END 

Link:

• Bohol Chronicle [link]

Jatropha mill, biodiesel plants & 'agropolis' to rise in Aris turf

Rep. Erico Aris C. Aumentado, 2nd District Bohol

By June S. Blanco

AN “AGROPOLIS” will soon rise in Bohol's 2nd District.

This after Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado, together with Malaysian investors Bionas, led switching on ceremonies in Dagohoy town Thursday for a jatropha press mill, processing plants for both jatropha and seaweeds (guso), townhouse type resorts – with a stadium, commercial centers, recreational centers, clubhouse and swimming pool, airport and seaport – in an agriculture-oriented metropolis hence, agropolis. Studies have shown that jatropha – tuba-tuba or kasla in the dialect and guso – are top producers of biodiesel or “green” fuel that minimizes carbon dioxide and other pollutants from the exhaust pipes of engines caused mainly by partial combustion.

Aumentado said from Dagohoy, the jatropha extract will be brought to Ubay town where the processing plant will be located. The same holds true for the seaweeds, considering that Ubay has seaports viable for expansion when the time comes, and an airport waiting for development. The solon said the project will provide additional income for rice, corn and coconut farmers. These are the staple crops of Bohol while jatropha remains to be considered a wild plant and used as a quack doctor's favorite prescription for a range of maladies. On the other hand, guso will provide additional income for fishermen. In both cases, the Malaysian investors will provide competitive buying prices – higher than the going rates, he added.

He said the resort will construct an initial 303 rooms – targeting 3,000 rooms in five years. The Bionas investors – coming from 49 countries – will be required to visit the agropolis at least once a year. Under the time sharing concept, they will be staying in their choice of rooms in the resort that they financed. The rooms will be rented out to transients when they return to their respective mother countries where they will campaign for tourists and vacationers. Aumentado said top architectural firms will be presenting their designs for the biggest hotel cum resort by next month for the investors to choose from so that construction can start next year. He also assured his constituents that the laborers, hotel/resort staff including the cooks, chambermaids and even managers – if they qualify – will be taken from the local work force. --- END

Links:

• Bohol Sunday Post [link]
• Bohol Standard [link]