A Korean company submitted a proposal to the Transportation Department to finance and construct a light rail transit system in Cebu, a Cabinet official said over the weekend.
Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia told reporters the Korean company expressed interest to finance the project, which would decongest traffic in the metropolitan area of Cebu.
“There are number of projects already being considered for Cebu and Visayas, including the BRT [Bus Rapid Transit] and there is also a plan to have an LRT in Cebu. There’s a proponent and [it] sounds attractive when they are proposing,” said Pernia, who did not identify the Korean company.
Pernia said the Cebu LRT project was one of the unsolicited proposals the Duterte administration received from potential investors. “That was just raised recently. I think it’s a Korean firm. It was raised to the DOTr and also to Cebu authorities,” he said.
Pernia said the development of infrastructure projects in the Visayas would draw investors and businessmen away from Metro Manila and into the central and southern parts of the country.
“Cebu is also a very attractive metropolitan area,” he said.
The project, if approved by the DOTr, will require the approval of the Investment Coordination Committee -Cabinet Committee of National Economic and Development Authority and is subject to the Swiss challenge.
“If it can survive the Swiss challenge, then there’s a pre-feasibility study before the Swiss challenge and then if it’s able to conquer the Swiss challenge, then it goes through a full feasibility study,” Pernia said.
He said once the project was approved and construction began in early 2017, it would likely be completed before President Rodrigo Duterte’s term expired in 2022.
“Cebu is not that big metropolis. It’s possible. Let’s say it got started early next year, I think it’s possible,” Pernia said.
Pernia said infrastructure development would be the main priority of the present administration to ease the traffic situation in major metropolitan areas, which would result in the higher productivity of the working class.
“We are going to invest in infra in the regions, away from Manila to help decongest also the already very crowded urban industrial regions such as Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Central Luzon and at the same time bring economic development to regions, especially lagging in the Visayas and Mindanao,” he said.