Loan extension sought for Cebu BRT

MANILA, Philippines — The government has asked the World Bank and French Development Agency (AFD) to extend the validity of the $173 million loan for the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) with the project set to break ground after a decade of delay.

Transportation Undersecretary Mark Steven Pastor told reporters that the Cebu BRT would finally break ground on Feb. 27 after a 10-year postponement due to political issues.

However, Pastor said the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has to negotiate with the World Bank and AFD to extend the duration of the loans to finance the Cebu BRT.

In 2014, the World Bank approved a $116-million commitment to fund the Cebu BRT estimated to cost at least $228.5 million. Prior to this, France pledged to finance a portion of the Cebu BRT in 2012, which later on translated into a $57.4-million loan extended by the AFD.

Despite the availability of funds for the project, the Cebu BRT failed to break ground between 2012 and 2022 due to political issues in the province, according to Pastor.

The loans are scheduled to expire on March 31 and June 30, 2023, for the AFD and World Bank, respectively.

“We have resolved the funding issue for the Cebu BRT, but it’s just that for this year we are in negotiations with the World Bank and AFD in terms of loan extension,” Pastor said.

“We have two loans: AFD will expire on March 31, World Bank will expire on June 30. It’s just a matter now of how many years and what are the parameters. This is a negotiation of the DOTr with NEDA and the DOF,” he said.

Pastor said the DOTr on Feb. 27 would lead the groundbreaking ceremony for the first phase of the project that would run from Cebu Capitol to South Bus Terminal.

Hunan Road and Bridge Construction Group Ltd. bagged the P919.66-million contract to put up the first package of the Cebu BRT.

Pastor said the DOTr would bid the second package of the project by the second semester.

The DOTr believes that the project should proceed without any delay moving forward. However, Pastor said the challenge now was to acquire the right of way for the Cebu BRT, especially as the segments of the project would be built sequentially.

The P16.3-billion Cebu BRT will lay out a 13.18-kilometer bus lane in Cebu that would run from Mambaling to Cebu IT Park that can serve up to 160,000 passengers daily in its full operations in 2025.