The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) board-regional development committee-Visayas invited yesterday giant contractor Atlanta Gulf & Pacific (AG&P) Industrial as the proponent in implementing the Negros, Cebu, Bohol and Leyte (NeCeBoLey) inter-island bridges and expressways.

The invitation was signed by Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo B. Benitez, the chairperson of the NEDA Board-RDCom Visayas Area Committee and Regional Development Council-6.

“We are pleased to hear about your memorandum of understanding with VNIHC for the implementation of $15-billion project NeCeBoLey which aims to connect the major islands of Negros, Cebu, Bohol, and Leyte through inter-island bridges and expressways,” Benitez said.

The NEDA board-RDCom-Visayas Area is composed of the Regional Development Councils (RDCs) of Western, Central, and Eastern Visayas regions with Bohol Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado as the chair of RDC VII, Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Marie Torres-Gomez as chairperson of RDC VIII and Benitez as chairperson of RDC VI.

AG&P Industrial president Alex Gamboa touted their company’s experience in the local construction scene, highlighting their past major projects in the Philippines.

These projects include the Ayala Bridge, touted as the first steel bridge in the Philippines, Manila’s water and sewage systems, the Araneta Coliseum, as well as the first LNG import terminal of the Philippines commissioned in 2023.

“ Pivotal to the country’s economy, Project NeCeBoLey will transform Visayas into a thriving business hub and accelerate socio-economic development, improving the lives of millions of Filipinos,” Gamboa said.

AG&P Philippines signed up to work with Visayas NeCeBoLey Interlink Holdings Corporation (VNIHC) to implement the proposed mega-infrastructure project.

Gamboa stressed that the project will be supported by a private consortium of global partners who will finance, design, construct, operate and maintain the bridges, road and mass transit network composed of four-lane bridges with expanded expressways.

Network of roads included

VNIHC chairperson Angel Pio Veloso Jr. told DAILY TRIBUNE that the NeCeBoLey involved the development, operation and maintenance of a 238.05-kilometer network of all-weather bridges and expressways.

He explained that this network will “establish vital connectivity among the major islands of the Visayas region, selected for its rapidly growing industrialization, urbanization, foreign investment, ecotourism and environmental protection.”

VNIHC was granted certificates of acceptance, giving it the original proponent status by the provincial governments of Negros Oriental, Cebu, Bohol and Southern Leyte to undertake the development under a public-private partnership framework.

As the project proponent, VNIHC will also procure the requirements, plan and reporting in accordance with the rules, regulations and policies of the local government units involved.

AG&P said that engineering and pre-construction work is expected to begin by second quarter of this year.

AG&P which started in the Philippines but is now Singapore based was founded in 1900 and is a global industrial infrastructure company, delivering pragmatic gas logistics solutions and construction services for blue-chip clients across some of the world’s most demanding infrastructure projects.

Meanwhile, the Regional Development Council in Central Visayas (RDC-7) through its chairman Bohol Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado and NEDA-7 regional director Jennifer Bretana endorsed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. the NeCeBoLey as priority and high-impact project last April.At least P7.2 billion is needed for funding allocation by NEDA for the friendship bridge for its feasibility study.