CEBU City, the primary proponent of the ongoing Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT) project, is currently in the dark about the project’s construction status due to a lack of communication from BRT management.
City Councilor James Anthony Cuenco, in an interview on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, said that he has no idea about the status of CBRT’s Package 1.
“The last news that came from them was the advisory about the indefinite timeline for completion of Package 1,” said Cuenco.
He added, “We haven’t heard from them since.”
Cuenco, who heads the committee on transportation and is a member of the Traffic Management Committee board, said the CBRT project team is required to update the City Government.
“Aside from the memorandum of agreement that was signed back in 2017, it is also a matter of basic courtesy that they should,” said the councilor.
When asked how frequently the CBRT project team updates the City, Cuenco said that only when they feel like it, “weather, weather lang (only).”
Cuenco said that they have been demanding that the CBRT management be forthright and consistent with its coordination with the City Government.
He said that they had authored several resolutions, but the CBRT management has been ignoring them.
For these reasons, Cuenco said he advocated for the idea that the City Government should be the one to manage the project since the locals know the situation.
“Kita man ang nakahibalo sa sitwasyon diri (It’s us who know the situation here) and not people from DOTr (Department of Transportation) who are based in Manila who make decisions and operate by remote control,” he said.
In previous SunStar reports, experts recommended the transfer of the management of the CBRT project from the DOTr to the Cebu City Government.
Rene Santiago, a mass transportation expert and consultant, earlier said that management of the project should be done by the City, being the proponent of the project.
The estimated overall target completion date of the project is Dec. 31, 2027.
In early July, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia ordered the clearing of the remaining construction materials and unfinished steel structures along Osmeña Blvd., near the Provincial Capitol building, to which the workers complied.
If the proponent failed to comply, Garcia said the Provincial Government would be forced to seek payment of rent.
Norvin Imbong, CBRT project manager, in a response to the governor, said he would endorse the matter to the Central Office, which has the authority to decide on the situation.
Before it can resume the civil works, the contractor and proponent were told to secure necessary permits and seek approval from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) for the construction of the bus stations in front of the Capitol building under Republic Act 10066, or the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009.
In compliance, the contractor halted all activities in the area and left the construction materials, including the steel roofing frames for the Foglia leaf pillars, in the middle of Osmeña Blvd.
The project management has started the paperwork to secure the approval of the NHCP.
As of July 30, no materials for construction can be seen along Osmeña Blvd, only unfinished posts that were covered with tarpaulin.
SunStar Cebu tried to reach Imbong for comment, but to no avail.