Located right next to Cebu City, Mandaue has become a major transportation city for Cebu with its two bridges connecting Cebu Island and Mactan Island. The Mandaue City Government signed a joint-venture agreement with Gothong Southern Group to develop a new seaport and will start construction in 2019.
The new port will be established in the 2.9 hectares of city-owned land around the North Reclamation Area. This big project will take about 4 years and 700 million pesos to complete.
The main purpose of this development is to provide a water taxi service. As previously mentioned, there are only two bridges for transportation between Cebu Island and Mactan Island, so all commuters and airport goers have no choice but to go via these bridges and this inescapably causes traffic jams every day. The water taxi service should lighten up traffic and improve accessibility as these boats can go between the two islands in 15 to 20 minutes.
Also, the new city-owned port means more jobs for locals. Not only within transportation services and facilities for water taxis and cruise ships, but also there are plans to build other commercial buildings which is expected to provide 1,500 new jobs.