Cebu Loses P145-M a Day Due to Traffic Congestion

Cebu’s economy loses an estimated Php145 million every day due to road congestion in Metro Cebu, an expert said.

Engineer Fortunato Sanchez Jr., chairman of the subcommittee on infrastructure and utilities of the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board, gave the estimate using Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (Jica) survey on Metro Manila’s purported loss of Php2.4 billion per day because of its congested roads.

Sanchez said Metro Cebu’s traffic problem is 1.4-percent of that in Manila, thereby the province could also be easily losing Php145 million a day due to traffic congestion.

Sanchez told the members of the MCDCB during their quarterly meeting held at the Talisay City Hall that the traffic management in Cebu has not improved.

He said this is happening because the government does not have a workable system and proper planning to address the problem.

He cited the “poor system and lack of planning” in Cebu.

Sanchez said the Department of Public Works and Highways has an allocation of Php13 billion for roads in Central Visayas last year, of which Php3 billion to Php4 billion was given to Cebu.

Despite the huge budget, traffic management has not improved because instead of widening the road to accommodate more vehicles, the DPWH just destroyed good roads and paved them again.

Sanchez said the quality of roads does not solve the traffic problem.

“In Cebu, we destroy good roads. We are not improving traffic,” he said.

He said Cambodia and Vietnam were able to widen their highways, but Cebu’s northern part is still two lanes like it was 50 years ago. (PNA) FPV/EB