CEBU CITY, Philippines—Cebu City Councilor James Cuenco, the chairperson of the City Council’s committee on transportation, laments the slow progress of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project here.
Cuenco said that he is still waiting for the progress report from the Department of Transportation (DOTr) because he was informed of further delays due to super typhoon Odette.
“Delayed kaayo. Ang timelines na delayed. I was supposed to meet them this week because daghan silag gipangayo nga deliverables sa city. I wanted nga na itemized gyod,” said Cuenco.
(It’s very delayed. The timelines are delayed. I was supposed to meet them this week because they were sking a lot of deliverables from the city. I wanted them itemized.)
The City Council is supposed to draft ordinances in relation to the BRT, but no progress has been made yet because they have yet to know the specifics of the ordinance.
The negotiations for the right of way (ROW) is at least ongoing and Cuenco believes eventually a movement of the project will be made.
However, the councilor has lost hope that the project will be finished within the remaining five months of President Rodrigo Duterte, saying that at the point of the progress, the target is farfetched.
He laments the significant delay because there is a massive demand for transportation with the pandemic and typhoon devastating Cebu.
“Within this term, I don’t think mahuman ni. Probably by the end of the year pa. Pagkadakong impact unta if masugdan na,” said Cuenco.
(Within this term, I don’t think this will be finished. Probably by the end of the year. It would have created a huge impact if it was started.)
The councilor is set to meet with representatives of the DOTr soon so he will be appraised of the project’s updates.
He hopes that a significant progress will already been made such as the approved budget from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and a successful bidding of the project to contractors.
For now, Cuenco said all the city can do is wait.
/bmjo
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