PEACE, goodwill to humankind is what the Western Visayans will get as a Christmas present. After all, that’s what Christmas is all about: The Word became flesh to link lost humanity with God the Father. And now we have humanity linking with one another.
According to Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, preparatory work for the construction of the longest bridge in the country at 19 kilometers will start next year. The project will link the Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridge.
The construction could rise to $2 billion. It could have been cheaper if it had started under the watch of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. But the past is the past. We can never change it. But we can look forward to a bright future.
“A full feasibility study (for the bridge project) is being done now through a grant from China, they have volunteered to do a full blown study.”
The Negros link might take longer because of its distance from Guimaras. The bridge will have to stretch the Guimaras Strait to link Panay with Negros to ensure a hefty Internal Rate of Return.
This inter-island linking is just a subproject of a more ambitious global project. Let’s look at the bigger picture of interconnectedness, of connecting the various dots.
In September 1990, China’s Bei-jiang Line linking Urumqi and Alashankou was connected to Kazakhstan Railways, thereby linking Lianyungang and other ports in east China directly by rail with Rotterdam, Holland and other European ports.
Freight and passenger services of this New Asia-Europe Land Bridge spans two continents, a link made possible by the work of the Chinese state and commercial business enterprises. It makes a significant contribution to economic and cultural exchange between the Asia-Pacific nations, Europe and the Middle East. The line is benefitting the development of the regions it serves.
The Asian Development Bank noted in its report Connecting Asia: Infrastructure for Integrating South and Southeast Asia, for centuries, South Asian and Southeast Asian economies have been isolated from one another.
However, leaders and business operators in both regions are seeing the benefit of greater connections. With improved infrastructure and easier border crossing procedures, the volume of goods and passenger traffic by land would grow.
South Asia and Southeast Asia will need at least $3.6 trillion from 2010 to 2020 in infrastructure investment to meet the needs of the growing populations in the two regions.
Funds are no objections. Patience is a virtue because all this will take time. But it’s not the far future we’re talking about. Asia has the money to build the critical infrastructure needed in these two regions. Savers in Asia put away $1.3 trillion in 2011 alone. The region’s formidable savings can be re-invested to finance infrastructure.
I might not see that near future. But certainly the generation of millennials will.
(bqsanc@yahoo.mail)
