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PPA CLARIFIES PORT INFRA PROJECTS ON GATEWAY PORTS |
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The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), in a press statement today, clarifies the various port infrastructure works that the Port Agency is undertaking specifically in Cagayan de Oro and Tacloban Port and the completed port rehabilitation work undertaken in Pulupandan, Negros Oriental.
PPA General Manager Juan C. Sta. Ana said that at this time, the current Port Infrastructure Plan of the Philippine Ports Authority puts premium on the pursuance of its mandate to provide the country’s sea travelling public with more efficient, appropriate and modern port facilities and equipment specifically on our keyports or major gateways like the Cagayan de Oro (CDO) Port which is the only major port serving the entire Cagayan de Oro and its neighboring provinces. To date, the CDO port caters to an average of 1,200 passengers per day during regular season and 2,500 passengers per day during peak season. On vessel calls, the port receives 7 vessels a day ranging from superferries, liners and tramping vessels. On cargo throughput, the port averages around 12,500 TEUs/month. “In view of this considerations, the PPA has lined up a number of infrastructure projects that hopefully could be implemented in the medium term and which would allow the port to accommodate projected increases in port traffic”, GM Sta. Ana added.
Sta. Ana furthered that as a matter of clarification to the earlier published reports, the PPA will pursue the implementation of the following individual projects at the said port in the latter part of 2011 and 2012 to include the paving of around 20,500 sq.m. newly developed operational back-up area to provide additional space for storage of container cargoes, the construction of new two-storey Passenger Terminal Building (PTB) which is designed to accommodate 1,500 passengers at any given time and the construction of three RO-RO berths that would accommodate large long-haul RO-RO vessels of GRT ranging from 6,500 to 19,000 MT and with a minimum draft requirement of 7.0 meters. These projects are included in the Medium Term Public Investment Program (MTPIP) of the PPA with a total fund requirement of Php 72.21million, Php 250million and Php 50million respectively.
In comparison, however, the GMA Modular RoRo port as a RoRo facility will cater only to small RoRo vessels of 300 GRT, and its Passenger Terminal Building which has a total area of 64 sq. m. will accommodate a maximum of 55 passengers. It is a Modular Port System intended for remote locations in the Philippines that can be utilized primarily to service small vessels and is classified as RoRo Port for mobility enhancement, RoRo ports for remote island development and RoRo port for Social Reform Support, Sta. Ana further stressed.
The Tacloban Port Improvement/Rehabilitation Project, on the other hand, involves the expansion of the port’s existing wharf which would require the installation of steel pipe sheet piles and waling (1,456 MT), rockworks (15,378 cu.m.), fill materials (37,544 cu.m.) and tie rods (14 sets of 32mm x 18m and 90 sets of 70mm x 24m). This port handles both foreign and domestic ships/cargoes. It will also involve an additional, 7,904 sq.m. of Portland Cement Concrete Pavement (PCCP), 2,975 sq.m. of Interlocking Concrete Blocks Pavement (ICBP) and 15 sets of V-1000H x 1000L Rubber Dock Fenders and 7-sets 50 tons T-Head mooring fixtures will be installed.
With regards to the Construction of the New Wharf Project, Port of
Pulupandan, Negros, Occidental, the revised contract amount is The Port Agency believed that it is not appropriate to make a comparison between the costs of the abovementioned three (3) PPA projects with the GMA Modular RoRo ports considering the enormity of the scope of work and the magnitude of the facilities in these major key ports (foreign and domestic traffic) compared with the French modular RoRo port.
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