FOUR foreign investors interested in setting up the monorail system in Davao City are still pushing for the project, the Davao City Investments Promotions Center (DCIPC) said.
DCIPC OIC Lemuel Ortonio said in Tuesday’s Davao Business Forum at Dermpath, SM City Davao that the project is still on the table despite the city’s position that High Priority Bus System (HPBS) is the top priority.
“So far, none of the foreign investors (for the monorail) backed out although the city already made a clear position that the HPBS is the priority,” he said.
Two of the investors are based in China while the others are from France and Korea.
He added that the Public Private Property (PPP) secretariat is closely looking and studying on the proposals of the investors.
“Just to clarify, for the monorail system, it will not be in conflict with the Mindanao Railway System,” Ortonio said.
One of the interested investors is the CRRC Nanjing Puzhen Co., Ltd, a China-based first-class large-scale railway equipment manufacturing company. It partners with Maglev Vision Transportation Mfg. Corp.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, in her State of the City Address (Soca) last year, stated that the Asian Development Bank will help the city shift from outdated and expensive public utility jeepneys to a more convenient, cleaner, and faster mode of transportation.
“We are working with the ADB for a high priority bus system medyo layo-layo na ang naabot ani nga plano in fact duna nay mga rota ang kani nga plan, makita na ninyo nga medyo workable na ang plano (We are working with the ADB for the HPB and we have already done many things, in fact routes are already included. We can see that the plan is already workable),” she said earlier.