• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Panay Guimaras Negros bridge is inching towards reality, as the national government has already allocated the full budget for its Detailed Engineering Design, which is expected to be completed within 21 months, revealed yesterday by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson.
Lacson, who along with Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer, were recently briefed by South Korean consultants on the PGN bridge at the Provincial Capitol Social Hall in Bacolod City, said that the DED funds are included in the 2024 General Appropriations Act.
Last month, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) signed a contract with Yooshin Engineering Corporation and its partners – Kyong-Ho Engineering and Architects Co., Ltd., Dohwa Engineering Co., Ltd., Soosung Engineering Co., Ltd., and Dasan Consultants Co., Ltd, for the DED of the PGN bridges project, valued at P2.671 billion.
The Section A of the PGN project covers a 13-kilometer stretch between the islands of Panay and Guimaras, while Section B, spanning 19.47 kilometers, will connect San Lorenzo in Guimaras and Pulupandan in Negros Occidental.
The civil works are expected to start in 2025, with completion targeted by 2030.
In a statement, DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan said that the start of DED for Panay-Guimaras-Negros Island Bridges Project is another monumental undertaking of the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. under the “Build, Better, More” program that will improve the lives of the people and simultaneously achieve economic stability in Region 6.
Once completed, this project, according to DPWH, is anticipated to reduce the travel time from Panay Island to Negros Island from a 4-hour trip via ferries/RORO, to about one-hour land travel via the PGN Island Bridges.*
