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THE Light Rail Transit (LRT) proposal for Metro Cebu would only become another source of corruption for government officials, according to Mayor Tomas Osmeña.
While he was open to other options for mass transport in Metro Cebu other than the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), he said he has reservations about the LRT.
?I experienced a trauma, and it is happening again. During the last meeting with the congressmen, I got really annoyed because they were asking me, in a way, ?Why don?t you endorse this? This is at no cost to the city.? The last time I heard those words was during the lamppost deal,? Osmeña said.
In 2006, the national government spent P365 million to install 1,800 decorative lampposts for 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit.
But Allegations of overpricing followed the project. Local and public works officials in Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cites were linked to the deal and were later charged with graft.
Johnny Ramos, president of AMA Group Holdings Corp. and director of the LRT project, assured that no corruption would happen in the project since the government would not be involved in the implementation.
?Some may use this as a political reason but we are coming in as a private investor,? Ramos said.
?The project is funded from private money. Government money is not involved here,? he added.
The AMA Group is proposing to implement the LRT project with its private partners through a Build-Operate-Transfer scheme.
The company and its partners would avail of the $603-million foreign funding for the project.
Project ownership and management of the LRT would be transferred to the Department of Transportation and Communication after 25 years.
Osmeña said any project would have to undergo thorough deliberation and public discussion, as well as an analysis by transportation experts first.
?This is a highly technical subject. We cannot go by popular sentiment here,? Osmeña said.
He admitted he became suspicious because some officials gave an Oct. 24 deadline for the local government unit to endorse the projected needed to get the foreign funding.
?There is no mayor who could come close to my experience in getting foreign funding for projects. There is no such thing as a deadline,? said Osmeña.
?When I heard there is a deadline which is Oct. 24, it meant that someone wanted money to come out before the elections.?
The mayor said City Hall would reject the LRT idea for now and tell the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) that the city?s support for LRT would not be given until after the BRT study is finished.
?After the BRT studies, we will reconsider it. If there is a hanky-panky going on, I want to shut it out,? Osmeña said.
Ramos said they needed the endorsement of Mandaue, Talisay, and Cebu cities before the proposal would be submitted to the Regional Development Council.
It would be the RDC that would endorse the project to NEDA?s Investment Coordinating Council.
If it is favorable, the project would be endorsed to the NEDA board headed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Jose T. Ng, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice president for the Visayas, said decision-makers should consider both the infrastructure development of Cebu and the financial aspect in determining the best mass transport system.
?At the moment, I personally think that BRT is better than LRT because it costs lesser than LRT and it can be implemented sooner and faster compared to LRT,? he said.
Ng said Cebu would stand to benefit from an LRT to service places outside urban areas.
?Or if the financing is readily available for the two projects, the government may also consider merging the two project as one project, too,? he said.
