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CARGO deliveries from Cebu to Mindanao are expected to move faster with yesterday's launching of a roll-on, roll-off (roro) vessel that would service the Cebu-Zamboanga del Norte route.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo arrived in the province to inaugurate the roro service along with top Cebu officials led by Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, several Cabinet members, local officials and lawmakers in Samboan town, southern Cebu yesterday afternoon.
The Roro vessel MV Lite Ferry One will deliver goods and even passengers from barangay San Sebastian wharf in Samboan town to Dapitan City in Zamboanga del Norte.
Goods from Cebu used to pass through Dumaguete City before delivery to Dapitan.
Samboan Mayor Raymond Joseph Calderon said the project will help raise revenues for the town.
He said some of his constituents also got employed by Lite Shipping Corp. which provides the roro vessels.
Mayor Calderon said more roro vessels will soon operate once the roro port in Samboan is completed next January.
He said the roro port in Samboan will link Cebu to northern Minadanao.
The Cebu-Dapitan maiden voyage is scheduled to depart from Samboan for Palauan Port in Dapitan City at 6 pm yesterday.
Travel time for the new route is four and a half hours.
Although roro vessels started to depart from the Samboan port, construction at the sea-side infrastructure continues.
Ongoing developments include the repair of the existing reinforced concrete deck and the installation of a roro ramp.
Also set for construction are two berth roro ramps, two conventional berths, a parking area and the provision of perimeter fences and gates.
The total project cost is P20.25 million. President Arroyo boarded the vessel along with officials before having lunch at a restaurant inside the port.
The roro project is one of several programs under the government's ?Strong Republic Nautical Highway Project.?Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol
