Malacañang pier eyed for ferries

A PLAN to field more ferry boats and use the Malacañang sa Sugbu as a dock was among the options raised to address the increasing number of ferry passengers from Cebu City to Lapu-Lapu, amid repairs on the old Mactan-Madaue bridge.

Mayor Michael Rama said he is amenable to such a move if that will mean less inconvenience for the public.

Since work started on the repair of the bridge last Monday, workers, students and business owners complained about the “intolerable” traffic.

“To solve the problem, we have to be accommodating,” said Rama in his regular news conference yesterday.

The mayor hopes that the National Government, particularly the Philippine Ports uthority, will grant the use of Malacañang sa Sugbu as a docking area.

“I hope hatagan na nila’g hibug-aton (they will take it seriously) considering the traffic problem,” he said.

Acting Gov. Agnes Magpale already wrote the National Government to ask that ferry boats be allowed to dock at Malacañang sa Sugbu.

Rama has an appeal, though, to the contractor of the bridge repair: fast-track the completion of the project.

This, considering that there is an upcoming international summit on March 15 in Cebu.

In a meeting last Tuesday night, the Metro Cebu Bridge Management Board asked the public works agency to limit the repairs to night shifts only, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

They also gave the agency’s contractor two weeks to get the job done.

In a separate interview, City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) executive director Atty. Rafel Yap said he also favors the use of Malacañang sa Sugbu as docking area.

“The mayor has stated many times that he wants Malacanang sa Sugbu to help Cebuanos so I guess this is one way of helping the Cebuanos,” he said.

Yap said this will benefit residents in the city, since there are also those who live here but work at the Mactan Export Processing Zone.