Mayor in India to observe BRT system

MAYOR Michael Rama is in India today to attend the Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA), a program aimed to provide assistance to medium-sized Asian cities in terms of development plans and infrastructure investments.

City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete said Rama was invited to attend the CDIA because of the planned Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) System project of the Department of Transportation of Communications (DOTC) in Cebu. “He (Rama) will go there (India) to observe the BRT,” Poblete said.

CDIA was established in 2007 by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government of Germany, with additional core funding support of the governments of Sweden, Austria and Spain and the Shanghai municipal government.

CDIA’s website explains that it provides a range of international and domestic expertise to cities that can include support for the preparation of pre-feasibility studies for high priority infrastructure projects.

Rama is with Engr. Ma. Concepcion Encabo and Raffy Yap of the Cebu City Planning and Development Office, Engr. Kenneth Carmelita M. Enriquez of the Cebu City Department of Engineering and Public Works, among others.

Poblete said the Cebu City government is also a stakeholder in the BRT project which will pass barangays through Bulacao, Ayala Area and Talamban. CORRESPONDENT RHEA RUTH V. ROSELL