MINERVA BC NEWMAN
DUMAGUETE CITY– Two infrastructure projects—the upgrading of the Dumaguete-Sibulan Airport and the two-storey Port Operations Building at the port of Dumaguete were inaugurated Thursday, March 11 with Pres. Rodrigo Duterte leading the ceremonial unveiling of the marker with Department of Transportation (DOTr) Sec. Arthur Tugade, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Director General Jim Sydiongco and PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago.
According to Department of Transportation (DOTr) Sec. Arthur Tugade that the upgraded port of Dumaguete and the improvement and rehabilitation of the Dumaguete-Sibulan Airport would boost Negros Oriental’s maritime and air connectivity.
Tugade said that likewise the new state-of-the-art Port Operations Building can now properly monitor inbound/outbound vessels from the neighboring provinces in Central Visayas and other regions in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Under the government’s Build, Build, Build, program the newly-rehabilitated airport passenger terminal building (PTB) costs P258,898,212.56 while the Port Operations Building costs more than P114-million.
The improvement and rehabilitation of the Dumaguete-Sibulan Airport will upgrade the airport’s capability to land an aircraft from A319 to A320, relatively a heavier aircraft and increase the Passenger Terminal Building (PTB) capacity from 330 to 450 passengers.
From a previous floor area of 1,152 sq.m., the PTB now has an expanded size of 1,842 sq.m. The improvement included the re-blocking of the airport apron; construction of two taxiways; expansion of the passenger terminal, among others.
The Port Operations Building on the other hand is designed to address the need for the proper monitoring of vessel arrival and departure as well as provide state-of-the-art passenger terminal building for passengers bound for nearby islands like Siquijor, Cebu, Bohol and other destinations in the Visayas and Mindanao areas.
With the new vision of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), the building aims to provide facilities and services at par with global best practices. According to the PPA briefs that the construction of the two-storey building is situated in a 3,082 sq.m area that accommodates 500 participants or persons.
Joining the President during his visit in Dumaguete are Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go; Sec. Silvestre Bello III of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE); Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Sec. Wendel Avisado; Presidential Communication Operations Office (PCOO) Sec. Martin Andanar; Presidential Spokesperson Sec. Herminio “Harry” Roque, and Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) Sec. Michael Lloyd Dino and other local officials.
