The Bus Rapid Transit-National Program Management Office (BRT-NPMO) has committed to justly compensate the Cebu Provincial Government for the road lots along Osmeña Boulevard that would be used as terminals for the Cebu BRT project.
Engr. Benedicto Guia, manager of the BRT-NPMO, told Gov. Gwen Garcia during a meeting at the Capitol on Tuesday, April 4, that his office will have to act once it receives Capitol’s formal claim of ownership of the lots upon which the proposed Capitol and Fuente CBRT terminals would stand.
“We intend to settle everything,” Engr. Guia told the governor. “Just compensation is the order of the President, so we will have to abide by that.”
During the groundbreaking ceremonies of the CBRT last Feb. 27, Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered DOTr Sec. Jaime Bautista to “ensure the just compensation of property owners who will be affected by the CBRT project.”
The Cebu Provincial Government owns the lots upon which portions of the CBRT project will traverse, from the Capitol all the way to Fuente Circle.
Though designated as “road lots” in their lot titles, the same titles do not automatically greenlight the properties’ usage as bus stations for the CBRT; hence the Capitol’s insistence for just compensation.
According to Capitol consultant and UP Cebu finance professor Yvonne Gomos, the current property valuation of lots along Osmeña Blvd ranged from as low as P75,000 per square meter to as high as P125,000/sq.m.
PROACTIVE MEASURES VS TRAFFIC CONGESTION
Aside from owning the entirety of the road lots from Osmeña Blvd all the way to Fuente Circle, the Capitol also owns six meters on each side of the road which have now been utilized as sidewalks.
The governor noted that since the CBRT project will have to take up at least 7.8 meters off the road (with each lane allotted 3.9 meters), a traffic crisis could build up in the area since only one lane on each side would be allotted for PUVs and private vehicles once the CBRT is fully operational.
To remedy this impending traffic crisis, the governor offered to the DOTr the Capitol properties which are being used as sidewalks for them to construct road lanes there and recover the 7.8 meters taken up by the CBRT.
“When you dedicate one lane to the BRT, like it or not, magkukulang talaga ng lane yung mga private vehicles,” the governor said. “I was suggesting to Sec. Bautista, try considering the sidewalk because that is property of the province that you could possibly use as a replacement for the dedicated lane.”
Engr. Guia said he will recommend the matter to the DOTr central office for further action. CBRT project manager Engr. Norvin Imbong accompanied Engr. Guia in his meeting with the governor. | Ioannes P. Arong
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