Albay gov orders construction of alternate road to Pantao Port

• Source: http://journal.com.ph/news/provincial/albay-gov-orders-construction-of-alternate-road-to-pantao-port
• Sunday, September 24, 2017

By Sonny Sales

LEGAZPI City -- Albay Gov. Al Francis Bichara ordered Provincial Engineering Office head Dante Paquiao to complete a detailed engineering plan for the contruction of an alternative road so that the provincial government could open to commerce the long completed International Pantao Port in Libon town.

Constructed at the cost of P2 billion during the Macapagal-Arroyo administration, through the initiative of then congressman and later Gov. Joey Sarte Salceda, the port of international standards for docking of foreign shipping via the China Sea to Bicol, has not been put to use for nearly two decades due to poor access road.

After sustaining damages due to sea surges during Typhoon Reming in 2006, the Philippine Ports Authority made extensive repairs, but Bichara noted that since then, the port has not been opened officially due to dilapidated access road and deep ravines towards Libon town.

Bichara said the new alternative road being planned for construction will not use the old route, which is prone to erosions and landslides due to the deep ravines.

Critics said Pantao Port is a “white elephant” and blamed Salceda for the exorbitant cost of the international port which has not benefited the province for the past 15 years.