Gwen offers to develop North Bus Terminal

CEBU Gov. Gwen Garcia met with Cebu City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete to formally offer Capitol’s desire to develop the North Bus Terminal.

While welcoming the governor’s offer, Poblete said some legalities on the ownership of the terminal needs to be settled first.

“Basta kaayohan sa katawhan, open man mi (If it is for the good of the people, we are open for that),” Poblete added.

Governor Garcia said the North Bus Terminal needs some structural changes.

“But there are existing legal realities, and the province is looking at where it could come in,” she added.

“I give credit to Cebu City, which puts in a lot of effort in running the terminal,” she added.

Garcia also said other things such as traffic flow of the buses and infrastructure intervention will be put into consideration.

“There’s a difference with the North and South Bus Terminals. This is the first step to solve the problem,” Poblete said.

Also the location of the bus terminal, which is under Mandaue City, will also be considered.

Meanwhile, the management advisory board of the North Bus Terminal (NBT) had to be convened to discuss improvements in terminal operations and prepare for another huge crowd heeding home to their provinces during the All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day, said Cebu City consultant Eugene Elizalde.

Elizalde said the board may even decide to adopt some of the “best practices” at the South Bus Terminal (SBT), which is operated by the Cebu provincial government.

“It’s all a matter of revisiting and improving the system to also prepare for the kalag-kalag, which is the next big event,” he said.

The Mandaue city government availed of the P16.5 million loan from JICA for the terminal construction project but had the facility leased by the Cebu city government.

Cebu City entered a contract with the North Bus Operators Cooperative for the co-management of the terminal, which earns the city P2 million a year.

Elizalde said while the NBT occupies an area of almost a hectare, its terminal building is located in the center with buses parked on the sides.

NBT accommodated about 22,000 outbound passengers this year, which is a big crowd as compared to the only 15,000 passengers in the 2011 Holy Week break.