Thursday, August 19, 2004 After 2-year wait, commuters get smoother south road rides
PRESIDENT Arroyo expressed satisfaction and congratulated workers and the Cebuanos over the much-improved work on the Cebu South Road.
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, who accompanied Arroyo in her last-minute decision to inspect the road up to San Fernando was also “surprised” by what she saw.
“Nakurat ko. I passed by that road just last Sunday yet and (it was far from completed). It took a presidential visit to accomplish this miracle. They were able to accomplish in less than a month what they failed to do for almost two years,” said Garcia.
Garcia said Arroyo waved to people lined up along the streets, who yelled “Salamat!” to the President for her special interest in the south road.
The governor raised the possibility of naming the road after Arroyo as a gesture of thanks, but Arroyo would rather name it after her grandfather, Juan Macaraig, who was the district engineer when the road was first built.
Garcia said she will encourage the PB to pass a resolution urging Congress to name the national road after Arroyo’s late grandfather.
Bridges that were not yet passable last Sunday were already used yesterday, Garcia said, and gone were the “crude” traffic signs that she used to complain about.
Most of the stretch was also paved already, when only one lane was opened for these four days ago.
“Kurata nako. But they were working night and day since the President announced she will inspect the road,” said Garcia.
The governor said she told Arroyo of the Cebuanos’ appreciation of the attention the President has given to the main thoroughfare in the south.
A day before President Arroyo’s arrival, a Palace aide said she had decided to put off her inspection until the end of the month, when she returns to Cebu for the Mandaue City Charter Day celebrations.
As welcome as the road improvements were to President Arroyo and Governor Garcia, no one is more relieved than commuters, whose trips have been jarring and prolonged while the thoroughfare was dilapidated. (JPM)
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