Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte bared on Friday that the Davao City High Priority Bus System (HPBS) and the Waste-To-Energy (WTE) projects may not happen.
The mayor said he had already written a letter to the Department of Transportation (DoTr) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in January this year to ask for the status of these projects, however, he did not receive any reply from the departments.
“Rumors ra na ug wala ko’y physical data or anything to show. Nagsuwat ko nila (DoTr and DENR) atong January wala man sila ni reply kung unsa ang status. Pati ang WTE nga naa naay grant daan from Japan, wala sila ni reply. Nangutana lang ko kung what’s going on og wala sila’y reply. I cannot verify right now kung wala na,” Duterte said during an interaction with the members of the media on Friday night.
HPBS is one of the flagship projects of the Build, Build, Build program, which will be implemented by DoTr and the city government of Davao.
The Davao HPBS is a proposed bus-based public transport system for the city, consisting of a core bus network of over 100km, and a feeder network of over 500km while the proposed WTE plant, based on its design, has a capacity of 600 metric tons and the ability to generate up to 12 megawatts of energy.
Meanwhile, the mayor is optimistic that the Samal Island-Davao City (SIDC) Connector Project, Bucana Bridge, and Davao City Coastal Bypass Road will be realized.
The mayor maintains his perception of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) as an incompetent department because of the several unrepaired roads in Davao City.
