26/11/2019
DAVAO CITY – Presidential Daughter and Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is calling on the Department of Finance (DOF) and National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) to fast track the major projects of the city that are still pending to both offices.
During her State of the City Address (SOCA) on Monday afternoon, Duterte-Carpio stressed that the Davao –Samal Bridge, High Priority Bus System (HPBS) and Waste to Energy Facility are among the city’s top projects.
The chief executive in a press briefing after her SOCA said, these big-ticket projects need national government support for its full implementation.
“Ang gusto lang nato is to solicit their support for the projects so that ma-materialize siya or masugdan siya within the next three years under the administration of President Duterte ( We want to solicit their support for the projects, so that it will be materialized within the next three years under the administration of President Duterte),” she emphasized.
Reports have it, the documents involving the Davao-Samal Bridge and HPBS are still at NEDA while the Waste to Energy is still with the finance department and, seems not moving.
The HPBS cost around P13 billion and the waste to energy project has around P1.5 billion budget needed while the cost Davao-Samal is yet to be determined since it is still on the final stage of study.
Duterte said these are urgent projects for the city especially the HPBS since it would address the mass transportation problem here that made the commuters suffer especially during rush hours.
She said they have evaluated the road transit rationalization in the city and developed a solution to minimize the existing 120-130 routes into 29 routes, initially recommended by the HPBS study.
The city government pushed the funding for stage 1 of the HPBS under the supplemental budget No. 1 which amounted to P100-Million.
Duterte expects that during the first quarter of 2020, the operation of low floor buses for Catalunan Grande and in Diversion Road, which will also open the route from the Northern to Southern Part of the city.
The plans for the (Davao-Samal) bridge is now on its final stage, she called on the people “To support this project and for the Sangguniang and the relevant departments of the City Government to issue the necessary documents and permits, subject to thorough review.” -Armand Fenequito Jr.
