THERE is no chance that the multi-billion-peso Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project in Cebu City will be cancelled, an official said.
Acting on the request to review the project, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Assistant Secretary Arnold Fabellar and Undersecretary Thomas Orbos met with Mayor Tomas Osmeña and other officials at City Hall last Thursday to discuss the matter.
Francisco “Bimbo” Fernandez, executive assistant of the mayor, said the DOTr officials visited the mayor to hear his side on the proposal to cancel BRT.
“We were able to justify that BRT is very important to our traffic problem solution. This is not a new project. We have bilateral agreements for it, including the World Bank, and we just can’t cancel it,” Fernandez said.
DOTr obtained a P10-billion loan from the World Bank for the BRT, which forms part of the total funding for the project.
The implementation of the BRT will cost the government P16.9 billion.
It was Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino who requested the DOTr to review the BRT project.
Dino earlier said he will lobby for the cancellation of the project after Engr. Rene Santiago, an engineering and transport expert, said that BRT is not ideal in the city because of the physical limitation of its roads.
During their meeting, Fernandez said they explained to DOTr that BRT is better than the light rail transit (LRT) system, which Dino is pushing for, since the former is cheaper to construct.
They also said that it is expensive to operate a train system.
Fernadez said, though, that the mayor will not oppose if the National Government will implement an LRT project in Cebu as long as the City will not subsidize it. (RVC)