Dino: Government must commit more infra plans for Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - The government must commit to implement more infrastructure projects in Cebu to solve its worsening traffic problem, presidential assistant for Visayas Michael Dino said yesterday.

In his speech before the general membership meeting of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday, Dino said: "The government must commit to do more on infrastructure projects, like road arteries, bridges and mass transportation that will help untangle the web of traffic mess in Cebu."

"You are quite aware of the traffic situation in Cebu, which according to NEDA, have cost us P145 million in daily productivity. We have some ideas on how to solve traffic congestion," Dino said.

"It's about time to refocus in Cebu, the Visayas.  It has always been Manila and Luzon. It's about time to go for subway and LRT (light railway transit) to solve traffic in Cebu. It's about time to spoil Cebu" he said.

He said he had proposed to include Cebu in the emergency powers being sought by President Duterte.

"And so we coordinated with Congress for that purpose," he said.

The presidential assistant said that during the last hearing of the House Committee on Transportation, he had proposed to include all the local government units in mainland Cebu in the emergency powers.

He said Cebu City North District Rep. Raul del Mar had promised to support the move to include other cities and municipalities in Cebu in the emergency powers to be passed by Congress soon.

"There are other ideas presented on how to solve traffic problem in Metro Cebu. One of it is the Talisay-Minglanilla-Naga Bypass Road using the old railway. The other one is the Transaxial Highway from Naga to Danao. These are now under study by the DPWH," he said.

In an earlier interview in his recent visit here, Jan Top Christensen, Denmark's ambassador to the Philippines, said Cebu has to do something to address its traffic situation which has been worsening due to infrastructure woes.

"I see that you're (Cebu) also getting competitive in traffic with Manila," Christensen said.

Talking about the traffic problem, Christensen said there are many things that can be done to solve the traffic congestion and key to that is building a mass transport system in Cebu.

"It's easy to solve the infrastructure problem here because it's smaller than Manila. Cebu has to make sure in the long-term these infrastructure projects [are in place]," the ambassador emphasized.

There has been a public clamor to build a mass transport in Cebu such as a light railway transit (LRT) system but plans could hardly take off due to lack of political will, among other factors.

According earlier to the Department of Finance, a five-line railway project in Cebu is among the projects now being developed by the Department of Transportation as part of the Duterte administration's golden age of infrastructure.

The Cebu railway project, which will have five lines, is among the 13 railway projects being developed now by DOTr.

Based on previous reports, the DOTr detailed a 25-kilometer Cebu rail project costing P98 billion, including right of way.

These 68 big-ticket projects range from major road networks, railway systems and bus rapid transit systems to airport and seaport modernization that are either for implementation or in the pipeline as part of the Duterte administration’s massive infrastructure program.

The planned LRT system will also complement the P10.6-billion Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project that is funded by the World Bank. The 16-kilometer Cebu BRT, which includes the construction of bus ways bus stations and other facilities, stretches from Bulacao to Talamban.

Cebu's low quality and unreliable mass transport, the jeepneys, has not been able to keep up with the demands of Cebu's rising economic and increasing population.

The increasing volume of vehicles plying inadequate roads and highways in the metropolis has contributed to the traffic woes. (FREEMAN)