CEBU CITY, Cebu (PIA) -- The World Bank (WB) is eyeing to further extend the expiration date of the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT) project loan.
According to WB in a disclosable restructuring paper posted on its website on June 30, 2023, it has been proposed to extend the closing date by three months from June 30, 2023 to Sept. 30, 2023.
The extension is “to allow time for the government to submit a request for restructuring of the project with necessary changes.”
This would also allow time “to facilitate completion of activities under the current scope/design agreed during the mid-term review and thereby satisfactorily achieve the project development objective.”
“Upon receiving such request, the project could be duly restructured to facilitate completion of activities under the current scope/design agreed during the mid-term review and thereby satisfactorily achieve the project development objective,” it added.
The P228.5-M CBRT project was approved by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors on Sept. 26, 2014.
The project consists of $116-M from the WB, $25-M from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), €50.89-M euros from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and a $30-M counterpart financing from the Philippine government.
According to the WB, $23.9-M or about 17% of the $141-M total loan commitment from IBRD and CTF has already been disbursed.
The bank noted that a “substantial” portion of the project activities may not be completed by the closing dates.
The World Bank also observed “a notable improvement” in the performance of the project under the new administration which assumed office in July 2022.
The CBRT project broke ground on Feb. 27, 2023. It is expected to be fully operational by the second quarter of 2025, with partial operations eyed as early as the fourth quarter of 2023.
The Cebu BRT is composed of a 13.18-kilometer bus lane in Cebu that would run from Mambaling to Cebu IT Park.
It is seen to serve up to 160,000 passengers daily in its full operations in 2025.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. earlier led the groundbreaking rites of the CBRT Package 1 along Fuente Osmeña Circle, Cebu City on Feb. 27, 2023.
In his speech, the President directed the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and stakeholders to ensure that the CBRT project is finished within its timeline and guarantee that informal settlers affected by the transport project will be properly relocated.
The CBRT is one of the government's flagship infrastructure projects that is designed to enhance the overall performance of the urban passenger transport system in the province of Cebu. (MYP/PIA-7 Cebu with reports from worldbank.org)
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