The Department of Transportation (DOTr) expects a February approval of the New Cebu International Container Port (NCICP) by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).

“DOTr is seeking the NEDA Board green light to hike project cost which has grown since the first board approval in 2016,” DOTr undersecretary for planning and project development Timothy John Batan told media.

He added that once approved and after contract awarding, the construction can start within the first quarter of the year.

DOTr undersecretary for maritime Elmer Sarmiento recently explained the project encountered delays in procurement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lowest bid was more than the cost estimate, thus paperwork had to be redone and another approval from the project funder Export-Import Bank of Korea ( KEXIM) and the NEDA Board sought.

NEDA-7 regional director Dolores Molintas told the media that DOTr submitted a request to the NEDA-Investment Coordination Committee to increase project cost and extend loan validity and implementation period.

The original schedule for NCICP groundworks was August 2022. The civil works component was bidded out in 2022, and a Korean firm won the bid.

The port will be built on a 25-hectare reclaimed area in Tayud, Consolacion, Cebu, and will be connected to the mainland by a 300-meter offshore bridge.

Sarmiento said the project has two components: civil works to be funded by official development assistance (ODA) from KEXIM, and the purchase of quay cranes will be a public-private partnership.

The Philippine government and South Korea’s KEXIM in 2018 signed a US$172.64-million loan agreement for the project as a P1.28 billion will be the Philippine government’s counterpart.

The NCICP will have a berthing facility with a 500-meter-long quay wall that can simultaneously accommodate two 2,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit vessels; operating facilities and structures for containers such as a freight station and an inspection shed; an access road and bridge; and a dredged waterway and turning basin. It will be equipped with four quay cranes.

The NCICP is seen as the long-term solution to growing volumes handled at the Cebu International Port in Cebu City. The Cebu-based port is 8 kilometers away from Tayud, Consolacion.