The BRT-LRT issue
(First of two parts)
Allow me to make some clarifications and express my sentiments concerning the opinion of your columnist, Mr. Bobby Nalzaro. I, together with Regional Development Council (RDC) chairman Mr. Kenneth Cobonpue have been the subject of his column in several instances concerning issues related to the RDC and Infrastructure. I have never reacted publicly to his columns even if I found some facts inaccurate. But in his last column, I am constrained to straighten out some of his points.
On the issue of the light rail transport (LRT), he wrote that “Businessman Glenn Soco, chairman of the Infrastructure Development Committee (IDC) of the Regional Development Council (RDC) 7, when sought for comment about the multi-billion-peso proposed LRT project, said it is the best mode of mass transportation to address the worsening traffic situation of Cebu.”
This is completely false. I never uttered this statement, and will never discuss the merit or lack thereof of any project that has not been proposed to the RDC. To do so would be to speak without factual basis.
I mentioned several times as a former President of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) that I am for an efficient mass transport system for Cebu, and we have accommodated several proposals like a monorail system, a sea ferry and an aerial ropeway/cable car system. The LRT proposal has not come to our committee, but when it does, we will put it under the same rigorous scrutiny as any other project. Any project to help ease the traffic situation of Cebu will always be welcome.
About the tunnel projects, Mr. Nalzaro wrote that I said the proposal “needs feasibility study and is not yet necessary.” Let me give him and our readers a reality check. These tunnels were the same projects that we endorsed last year as flyovers/underpasses at the RDC. Congressman Del Mar found a way to convert them into tunnels at higher amount of P16 billion this year.
Who really decides which projects are good for the people? Is it only the congressman, DPWH, or just both of them together? The RDC was formed to give citizens and the private sector a participatory role in government policy, budget making and infrastructure. Indeed no project can be nationally funded without an RDC endorsement.
It is our job to check every project’s viability and determine if there are better options for the benefit of the Cebuano people. During our IDC meeting to discuss the Plans and Programs (PAPs) of DPWH for 2019, we agreed with DPWH that feasibility studies must be made to determine the best mode of road for an area. Will it be road widening, a flyover, an underpass or a tunnel?
A study is done by engineering, social and traffic experts to consider all options from a cost and efficiency standpoint. We wanted to wait for the full results of the study but Congressman Del Mar, after proposing flyovers and overpasses the previous year, concluded that tunnels were the best option this year.
Nowhere in the JICA Roadmap, the only available road network masterplan for Cebu, does it say that tunnels are considered the best interventions for roads/ intersections. (to be continued)