Labella: BRT to decrease use of diesel

CEBU, Philippines - The utilization of the Bus Rapid Transit system in Cebu City would help decrease the use of diesel in vehicles, according to Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella.

 “The BRT project will result in cutting down our dependence on diesel as the principal fuel used in the existing transport system consisting of jeepneys and buses,” said Labella.

He added that according to Dr. Carlos Dora, coordinator of the Department of Public Health and Environment of the World Health Organization, combustion product is one of the major causes of cancer.

The BRT project, said Labella, is a component of the city government’s urban development master plan.

“It is harmonized with the objective of attaining an environmentally sustainable transport system and better air quality, both of which are essential to the preservation of an environment fit for a Heritage City that is the City of Cebu,” Labella said during the 8th regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport  Forum in Asia which was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka last November 19 to 21.

The BRT project will be funded by a $218 million loan from the World Bank and some private sectors.

Based on earlier reports, the Department of Transportation and Communications will award the winning bidder who will construct the first phase of Cebu’s P10.6 billion BRT system possibly by next month.

The forum in Sri Lanka was organized by the country’s Ministry of Environment and Renewable Energy and the Ministry of Transport, Japan’s Ministry of Environment, Clean Air Asia and United Nations Centre for Regional Development.

Labella said the conference was a high-level intergovernmental policy forum and provided a strategic knowledge platform to address policy and institutional challenges concerning environmental and transport issues. — (FREEMAN)