BRT project chief Rafael Yap answers questions from property owners and the City Council on the latest developments in the project.
CDN Photo/Lito Tecson
Property owners whose lots would be affected by the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project will receive compensation from the government.
BRT project manager Rafael Yap gave this assurance to stakeholders during yesterdays public hearing by the Cebu City Council on a proposed ordinance finalizing the list of persons and properties affected by the project.
“We cannot begin construction without finishing the lot acquisition. This is the directive of the President for all government infrastructure projects.
This means we will compensate all that will be affected by the project,” Yap said.
Several property owners raised individual and specific concerns to Yap which include the amount of compensation and the procedure for payment.
Yap promised to make himself available for consultations with the property owners, but he refused to divulge the amount of the compensation until later on.
The national government earlier allocated P1.2 billion for road right of way (RROW) acquisition of the BRT project, but Yap said they requested an additional P5 billion to cover increased costs on this.
During his presentation, Yap said lot acquisition will only be done in the portions of the BRT route where they will build bus stations as well as bus terminals and depots.
There will be 21 bus stations from Barangay Bulacao up to the Ayala area.
These bus stations will be located on the center of the roads in these routes including N. Bacalso Ave., Osmeña Boulevard and Escario St.
There will be 10 bus stations from Ayala all the way to Barangay Talamban. These will be located on the sides.
Unlike the previous portion where there are dedicated lanes for the BRT buses, this second portion will have the buses mix with regular traffic.
Yesterday’s hearing also covered the proposed ordinance of Councilor Joel Garganera that seeks to impose a development moratorium within the BRT corridor.
This would ensure that no more new property owners will take advantage of building structures in order to be compensated by the government.
Yap said they are now finalizing the design and details for the project.
They target to start procurement for a bidder for the construction of Phase 1 of the project by the end of the third quarter or within the fourth quarter of this year. Actual construction is set to begin next year.
Yap said they hope to start actual negotiations with the affected property owners within this year in order to agree on a compensation package for their properties.
He said City Hall already received funds for the negotiation process.