CPA to rent out part of NRA

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu Port Authority is planning to lease parcels of land at Block 27 at the North Reclamation Area that might be utilized as a container yard.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said this was part of their discussion on Tuesday with the multi-sectoral group to address the pressing concern of traffic congestion at the Cebu Port.

Present during the meeting were CPA general manager Edmund Tan and representatives from Cebu Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), Bureau of Customs (BOC), OPASCOR, Phil Export Cebu and other shipping companies.

“This is one way to address the congestion problem in our port. We recognized that we have a problem of congestion But, I still have to determine the amount of the lease maybe they will have one hectare,” Rama said, explaining that the lease though would only be good for at least one to two years.

Further, Rama asked the different sectors to help beautify the port areas.

“Please don’t destroy the beautiful sea. The interlink (fence) creates some ugliness to our port so I want them removed so that our road will be widened and make it a part of the road for the city,” he said.

“I’ve been to many ports in Russia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Barcelona, Macau, among others and all are beautiful. In our port you end up bumped by fence and to the left and to the right there is nothing that you can be proud about,” the mayor added. —(FREEMAN)