CCCI on which mass transit system fits Cebu: “Leave it to the experts”

CEBU, Philippines - The business sector would leave to the experts who can advise what's the best mode of mass CEBU, Philippines - transit system feasible for Cebu, said the president of Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

This was the response of Melanie Ng when asked to comment on the pronouncement of President Rodrigo Duterte in his first SONA last Monday that he would pursue railway projects in Metro Manila, Cebu and the country's other major key points.

"As such, there needs to be an integrated traffic solution to be implemented as soon as possible to address this," Ng told The FREEMAN yesterday.

Earlier reports quoted Michael Dino, presidential assistant for Visayas, as saying that a group of Singaporean experts arrived in Cebu last week for an initial survey of the proposed light railway transit (LRT) in Metro Cebu.

LRT is one of the solutions eyed for Cebu's worsening traffic problem.

"Businesses suffer everyday because of bad traffic conditions. Quality of life also suffers," Ng stressed.

Industry players and people from the business had been calling for a mass transit in Cebu to complement its growing economic activity and to raise its competitiveness.

The Duterte administration said the railway projects are among the top priorities.

Duterte vowed in his nationwide speech that these will be materialized.

A transport project for Cebu on the pipeline is the P10.6-billion Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) but is, however, facing delays. (FREEMAN)