RORO has reduced transport costs, says Mendoza

RORO BENEFITS. The transport system reduced travel time and transportation costs. A roll-on roll-off vessel docking at Caticlan Jetty port (BRZabal)

DEPARTMENT of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) Secretary Leandro Mendoza has reported to President Arroyo that the roll-on roll-off (RORO) transport system has reduced costs by 40 percent for passengers and 30 percent for cargo.
In his report to the President, Secretary Mendoza said that travel time from Mindanao through Visayas to Luzon was also reduced by 10 hours. Efforts to further improve the system are still ongoing to further reduce costs, he said.
The reduction in both costs and travel time was due to the establishment of the Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH), connecting islands through a systemic linkage of land and water transportation, which is a priority project of President Arroyo since her assumption to the presidency in 2001.
In a special report to the Office of the President, Mendoza said that the DoTC has been pursuing vigorously its mandate to establish an integrated and strategic transportation and communications system that will facilitate the movement of goods, services and people within, as well as to and from the Philippines.
"Our islands have to be interconnected by good transport and communications networks that will open up new economic opportunities, reduce transportation and transaction costs of business and increase access to social services," Mendoza said.
Mendoza said that to improve further the SRNH or Strong Republic Nautical Highway, the DoTC is engaged in fully implementing executive order No. 170, issued by President Arroyo on January 22, 2003, promoting private sector investment in the Road RORO Terminal System (RRTS).
The objectives of the RRTS, according to Mendoza, are:
1. To reduce transportation costs, specifically the costs of inter-island transportation, through the establishment of a safe, efficient and cost-effective seamless transport network through Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
2. To enhance tourism, transportation and commerce throughout the country.
3. To facilitate the government’s agro-fisheries modernization and food security programs.
4. To promote private sector participation in the establishment, construction and operation of RRTS facilities.
5. To establish a new policy to promote the development of RRTS.