Tuesday, April 29, 2008 City Hall to ask Japan to fund study on transportation system
CEBU City Hall will ask the Government of Japan to fund a study on a transport system design for the South Road Properties (SRP) and other parts of the city.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña said they still have not reached an agreement with World Bank (WB) representatives, who checked on the city’s traffic scenario early this year to come up with an ideal system.
While waiting for the WB proposal, the City also asked the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to conduct a similar study.
“Nothing positive has come out of that, so we made a request with JBIC to fund the transportation study. What they will probably do is look on all models being used all over the world and put whatever is applicable here,” he told reporters yesterday.
The funding, which could run up to “a few million pesos,” will be in the form of a grant, Osmeña said.
WB officials were here last February to study the possibility of implementing a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in the Banilad-Talamban area and to design an “internal transportation system for the entire SRP.”
They reportedly promised to come back in late February or early March to present the extent of loan assistance they can provide the City Government for the implementation of the transportation system.
The City is considering the BRT system for the Banilad-Talamban area and will eventually expand it to other areas in the city. (LCR)
