Cebu City lawmaker urges gov’t: ‘Rescue’ stalled bus rapid transit

CEBU CITY –– A lawmaker here appealed to government agencies responsible for the creation of the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) to “rescue and speed up” the project which has been stalled for years now.

Rep. Raul del Mar of Cebu City’s north district said the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) need to step up to start even phase one of the BRT project.

“I appeal to the DOTr and officials of NEDA, which oversees these projects funded by the World Bank and Agence Francaise de Developpement, to push the Cebu BRT project from where it has been stuck—on the slow bureaucratic lane,” he said in a press statement on Thursday.

He also expressed hope that President Duterte would include the Cebu BRT project among the things he would like to see finally done.

The BRT is part of the Integrated Intermodal Transportation System (IITS) in Cebu. The IITS, initiated by the DOTr, targets to integrate the BRT, monorail system, and cable car system.

During his visit to Cebu for the Sinulog celebration last Jan. 19, Duterte said the BRT system is hard to implement as roads in Cebu City cannot be expanded anymore.

Duterte, in a speech, suggested that the city establish skyways and deploy trains like in Manila.

Del Mar said the DOTr, the implementing agency of the Cebu BRT project, had already failed at least twice to meet deadlines for its initial operation.

First scheduled to start its first phase in October 2016, the deadline was reset last December 2017 to the first quarter of January 2020, the congressman said.

“The new deadline, it would seem, is December next year. Except for the CiBus system, precursor service of the bus component of the project, which was launched in March this year, the Cebu BRT has not picked up speed to end and compensate for the serial delays,” he said.

Del Mar said the Commission on Audit has flagged the P16.3 billion project again in its 2019 consolidated report, publicized last Sept. 8, scoring the total of P29.48 million commitment fees from 2015 to 2019 for its delays in implementing it.

The fees, he said, are charges on undisbursed balances of the loan, which began to pile up when the loan took effect last Dec. 3, 2014.

“They have causes and excuses, notably the failure to procure consultancy services and civil works. And DOTr most likely will add to the heap of reasons the continuing pandemic, but then under the revised schedule the BRT was supposed to be up and running already in the first quarter of this year, before the outbreak of the plague,” Del Mar said.

“As congressman of Cebu City’s north district, I have seen how city residents have long been afflicted by the traffic problem, which can be expected to compound the woes of individuals and the community. The new projection of December 2021, given DOTr’s running record, offers little encouragement or hope,” he added.

The Office of the President, he said, has been provided a copy of the COA report.

LZB