Bidding for BRT engineering study set in September

THE Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) will schedule the bidding for the detailed project engineering study of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) for September this year.

By the fourth quarter, the winning bidder can then start mobilization or setting up its resources, said Rafael Yap, executive director of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom).

“The World Bank allows retroactive financing for the detailed engineering study,” said Yap who represents Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama in the National Economic Development Authority (Neda) Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) meetings.

The World Bank already issued a formal invitation to the Philippine government to negotiate for a loan application that would fund half of the budget requirement for the BRT project in Cebu City.

Yap said while the World Bank already committed to help fund the mult-imillion peso project, no loan agreement has been signed yet.

The funding agency and the Philippine government can now discuss conditions of the planned loan, the timeline for the project implementation, loan safeguards and the payment details, he said.

The World Bank website said the BRT system is worth $228.50 million.

However, the World Bank is only committed to grant a loan worth $116 million of the total project cost.

The balance will be taken from other foreign funding institutions.

The NEDA board headed by President Benigno Aquino III approved the BRT project during their May 29 meeting.

Yap said that if the NEDA board failed to meet the June 30 deadline set by World Bank, the country would have been charged commitment fees and given a negative credit rating.

“The (BRT) project experienced a setback after the NEDA board deferred approval of the project.
But overall, we are still within the time frame of the BRT project implementation.

We significantly hurdled the June 30 deadline for NEDA approval set by the World Bank,” Yap said.

Template

Rama and Yap also welcomed the proposal of Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) general manager Nigel Paul Villarete to set up a BRT route that would take passengers to the airport.

Rama said a feasibility study for an airport BRT route is no longer difficult to do since there would be a template based on Cebu City’s BRT.

But Rama said it’s important to first check on the status of the two land bridges connecting mainland Cebu and Mactan Island and determine their adequacy to accommodate buses.

“Part of our BRT study is a natural expansion of network to the airport and Talisay City. We welcome the increased interest in the BRT system,” Yap said.

Yap said he is confident that money to fund a second BRT route in Cebu would not be a problem.

Aside from the World Bank, Yap said there are o other funding institutions like the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) that are prepared to fund additional BRT projects.

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