CEBU Rep. Gerald Anthony Gullas Jr. said they would investigate the long delay in construction of a new world-class terminal at Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
Gullas, also the House Assistant Majority Leader, said there is a need for an inquiry into the almost year-long delay and he wants the problem resolved.
“The setback is unacceptable. We want the problem resolved right away. We will seek a congressional investigation,” Gullas said, adding the existing terminal was designed for 4.5 million passengers every year, but already serves 7.2 million.
“We’re also concerned that due to the delay in the project, passengers going through the MCIA might eventually be penalized by higher user charges, such as terminal fees. We don’t see how the new MCIA terminal can be completed by February 2018, as initially scheduled, if construction will start only by early 2016,” he said in a statement sent to Cebu Examiner.
The groundbreaking for the new terminal was originally set in January, but has since been deferred by at least another 10 months.
But GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp., the private firm obligated to put up the new terminal, has blamed the Philippine Air Force for the snag, saying, the PAF has 17 structures in the middle of the site where the new terminal is supposed to be built.
After two failed public biddings, the P678-million, 300-day contract to demolish, replicate and transfer the PAF structures to the nearby Mactan Benito Ebuen Airbase was given to private contractors only last month.
The Department of Transportation and Communications awarded to GMR-Megawide in April 2014 the multibillion-peso MCIA Passenger Terminal Rehabilitation, Expansion and Operation Public-Private Partnership Project.
Under the 25-year concession, GMR-Megawide is required to build in 36 months a new terminal capable of handling eight million international passengers every year. The firm is also expected to enlarge and modernize the existing terminal, which will be converted into a completely domestic flights-only station capable of handling another 4.5 million passengers every year.
GMR-Megawide is spending P17.52-billion for the project, on top of the P14.4-billion premium it paid to the national government for the concession. It will run both the new and existing terminals for up to 25 years to recoup its investment and earn a profit.
Gullas said he is counting on the project to help drive national economic and jobs growth in the years ahead through increased trade and tourism. “In particular, we see the new facilities firing up travel and leisure-related industries throughout Central Visayas, a key international tourism hub,” he said. (Cebu Examiner)
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