The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is building six more ports — mostly in Visayas and Mindanao — to complete the Philippine roll on-roll off transport system.
“PPA is convinced that except for about six other sites, the existing ro-ro transport system is adequate to provide seamless connections between islands and road networks,” PPA assistant general manager for operations Raul Santos said in a presentation to delegates of the 1st Philippine International Maritime Conference and Exhibit recently.
Santos did not name the potential location of the ports pending completion of a study. PPA may use parts originally intended for the previous administration’s modular ro-ro ports project, now in limbo, to reduce costs.
It may be recalled that the government signed in February 2009 an P11.78-billion contract with Eiffel-Matiere S.A.S. Consortium for the fabrication of 72 modular ro-ro ports.
The project was signed by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and approved by the Department of Finance. The PPA was to oversee project implementation.
Last March, however, the DOTC recommended cancellation of the project, noting that the existing port system was enough to service needs of the passage and cargo community and that constructing additional ports would be a waste of money.
Of the new ports constructed during the previous administration, around 44% did not have enough passenger and cargo traffic, according to PPA.
The Office of the President has yet to decide what to do with the Eiffel-Matiere contract.
