EVEN with the positive development on the proposed project, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said the City Government can’t proceed yet with the road-right-of-way acquisition for the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

This is because the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has yet to replace the personnel of the project implementation unit (PIU) of the project who were earlier removed from their post.

“There’s no one implementing it now,” he said.

Last March 23, the DOTr reorganized the PIU, which resulted in the termination of the service of 13 personnel who were working on the land acquisition.

The reorganization also caused further delays in the implementation of the BRT.

In his news conference yesterday, Osmeña described the recent move of the National Economic and Development Authority’s Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC) to let the DOTr hire technical service consultants as “a step in the right direction.”

“It’s about time, that’s part of the contract... That’s why it’s delayed because they did not hire the consultants,” he said. (RVC)