Neda exec: BRT contract likely to be given by Q1 or mid-2016

CEBU, Philippines - The construction contract for the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) may possibly be awarded in the first quarter or middle next year, an official said.

Efren Carreon, regional director of the National Economic and Development Authority in Central Visayas, said on Thursday the original target for the BRT construction is early 2016.

Currently a detailed engineering design is being created for the BRT project by South Korea's Kunhwa Engineering & Consulting Co. Ltd. The design's completion was initially set in December 2015.

But the target completion might be extended to February 2016, Carreon said, noting, however, that he has yet to personally confirm this unofficial information.

It was in April this year when the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) had awarded the detailed engineering design and construction supervision contract for the P10.6-billion BRT project to the Korean firm.

The Cebu BRT, scheduled to be completed by first quarter of 2018, involves the construction of 33 bus stations along a 16-kilometer segregated bus lane from Bulacao in Cebu City's south to Talamban in the north. It will deploy around 176 buses and is being eyed to serve an estimated 330,000 passengers per day once operational.

The planned BRT in Cebu is the Philippines' first ever, patterned after the BRT systems in Bogota in Columbia, Curtilba in Brazil, Seoul in South Korea, and Guangzhou in China.

The project's first phase involves the engineering design creation and preparation of bidding documents for the structural, civil, architectural, electrical and mechanical design. The second phase involves the supervision of the transit way and supporting infrastructure during the construction.

Carreon explained the engineering design will provide specific details on the actual construction of the BRT. - Carlo S. Lorenciana (FREEMAN)