LAST week, a "Hapsay Kable" initiative was launched by the local government unit of Cagayan de Oro which aimed at decluttering the cable wires from the posts in the major sidewalks in the city.
These wires have become not only an eyesore, but it is becoming hazardous to the public. That is why with the help of other agencies such as the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) Northern Mindanao, and other stakeholders, linemen volunteers removed a substantial amount of "dead" cables and fixed the posts so it won't look like unkempt hair or worse.
"Linemen are being supplied by telcos, Cepalco, Parasat, Misortel, Globe, PLDT, Dc-Tech," engineer Teodoro Buenavista Jr. said, the Regional Director of NTC-Northern Mindanao and co-chair of the Task Force Hapsay Kable.
"Good to see them working as one - minus the competition. Exampe, Globe ang nag cut, pulled by Smart and rolled by PLDT," added.
The task force has self-imposed a six-phase routine to complete the task. One phase is equivalent to a targeted street and one special area in Velez Street.
A glimpse from the conversation from Buenavista revealed that an underground cable system are already in the talks. This means that in the future, most, if not all, cable lines will no longer be put up in posts but it will be placed underground, like most foreign countries have been doing for many decades now.
"We call that as "Project Velez." The underground system is doable for cables and wires on that street," he added, also saying that Misortel already has that kind of facility.
Now it all boils down as to when it's going to happen. Surely enough, it requires budget to create these infrastructure, and it has to undergo bureaucratic processes.
One interesting advantage of these underground cable system, is that it will also help improve ICT infrastructure which means a better internet service (hopefully).
And here is to hoping that these talks would translate to actual realization of this project. Hopefully, too, that despite some areas in Cagayan de Oro is prone to flooding, future planners will have a better solution to the problem.
And another hoping: should underground cables will become a thing, there would be no thieves will attempt to tamper or steal these cable wires for them to re-sell at junkshops (hopefully it's deep enough not to be stolen from these petty criminals).
(Nefluczon@gmail)