Get act together, world firm execs urge Cebu

Thursday, October 20, 2011

CEBU CITY -- Local officials in Metro Cebu need to get their acts together and integrate plans if they want to have effective and sustainable solutions to common challenges, including flooding and traffic congestion, experts said.

Members of the IBM Executive Service Corp. (ESC) also cited the need for an integrated and a sustainable master plan, which will help the 13 towns and cities in Metro Cebu achieve growth faster and improve the quality of life of their constituents.

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Six top level executives from IBM offices in Germany, the United States, Italy and Sweden presented yesterday their findings and recommendations on how the Metro Cebu Development Coordinating Board (MCDCB) can achieve the city-region concept, where LGUs work together in identifying solutions to common problems that affect them.

They suggested to the towns and cities to have an integrated land use plan and traffic management plan, and to also work together in the areas of pollution control and solid waste disposal and management, flood control, public safety and security, road improvement and infrastructure development, and urban renewal and shelter.

Integrated planning, they said, will help the LGUs address common problems faster and in a more economical way, and will help make the towns and cities more livable.

“If my city is livable, I have a higher chance of getting investors and tourists, and at the end of the day, it’s going to result in jobs and revenues and this, in turn, will lead to more livable cities,” said Robin Selber of the IBM ESC.

The firm

The IBM ESC is the technology company’s philanthropic program that deploys a team of IBM top level executives to solve complex problems in cities of high growth emerging markets.

They also raised the need for the MCDCB to have a master plan that is based on a consensus and is sustainable, to ensure that projects, programs and policies continue even with a new administration.

IBM ESC, a partner of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (Rafi) in realizing the Mega Cebu roadmap, presented their recommendations to Metro Cebu mayors and legislators, the business sector, government agencies and civil society at the Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center yesterday.

Roberto Aboitiz, president of Rafi, earlier proposed the Mega Cebu concept, which will have 13 towns and cities collaborating to become a city-region.

It covers the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Talisay, Danao, Carcar and Naga and the municipalities of Compostela, Liloan, Consolacion, Cordova, Minglanilla and San Fernando.

As such, the LGUs maintain their own geo-political integrity, but will collaborate with each other and as a whole to be able to attract investors and be competitive in a global scale.

Mega-Cebu

The Mega Cebu roadmap aims to address growth challenges, urbanization, population, aging and inadequate infrastructure and declining competitiveness. It should also address opportunities in economic development, quality of life and sustainability. 

On traffic management and transportation, IBM executive Sunimal Ediriweera noted the limited data available, which could guide planners on improving road networks and traffic plans.

Ediriweera said traffic planning and management can be improved with access to more detailed and current data.

He suggested using the existing cellular network as a source of real-time anonymous traffic movement data, or anonymous bulk location data, which can guide planners in managing traffic and informing the public of traffic situations in different areas.

As for an integrated and comprehensive land use plan, Selber said this will help LGUs address growth and development concerns collectively.

“A lot of land use plans have been done very well, but in some cases, they only look at their own municipality or city line and yet some problems go across city lines. So when you deal with flooding in one place, for instance, it can affect the neighboring LGU. And so with these plans, we see as an important step to collaborate on those issues, like with traffic and transportation. That’s really the point of having coordinated and integrated plans,” she added.