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Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Mayor, guv ask for more funds for Asean summit preparations
More money is needed for the hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in December.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña asked the Cebu City Council to set aside P81.96 million to relocate informal settlers and repair infrastructure at the North Reclamation Area.
The mayor’s proposed supplemental budget, already the fourth this year, also covers the purchase of the treasury office’s equipment worth P1.9 million, and 15 dump trucks and two cabs with mounted hook-lifts and garbage bins worth P17.96 million.
At the Capitol, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia called for a special session to tackle the more than P259-million supplemental budget that includes the additional allocation for the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC).
Of the amount, P200 million is for the CICC while the rest is for the collective negotiation agreement incentive of the Capitol employees and “few other things.”
If the supplemental budget is passed uncut, the CICC will now cost P450 million.
Garcia had said that Capitol will work within the P250-million budget for the CICC but because of the rising price of structural steel, an additional appropriation must be set aside.
The Provincial Board scheduled the special session on Friday at 2 p.m.
Garcia left for Jakarta, Indonesia yesterday for the Asean 100 Leadership Forum. She is counting on Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez Jr. to go on with the preparations for the CICC.
Sanchez, also a civil engineer, will be meeting with those involved in the CICC construction.
CICC architect Manuel Guanzon is optimistic the facility will be finished in time for the summit.
He is even willing to bet P500,000.
“Are there takers? Put their money where their mouth is because architect Guanzon is putting his money where his mouth is.
I’m challenging those who truly believe that we can’t finish, let them take the bet,” Garcia said.
As for Cebu City, according to the proposed budget, funds will be taken from P77-million domestic borrowings and the realigned P5-million lump sum appropriation supposedly for an air-conditioning system.
The bulk of the budget will be spent for the rehabilitation of drainage, roads, traffic system, and landscaping at the North Reclamation Area.
Drainage repairs and street concreting required P43.57 million and the installation, testing, and commissioning of traffic facilities needs P4.045 million.
City Administrator Francisco Fernandez said the fourth supplemental budget stemmed from the agreement between the City and the management of SM City mall and that with the Cebu Port Authority (CPA).
SM’s decision to pay its P53.9-million taxes for real property, amusement and business for 2007 was timed with the City’s Asean preparations.
SM specifically asked City Hall to allocate P1 million of its advance payment for the relocation of squatters and vendors in their area.
The payment, according to a council resolution approved last month, will be used to fund various projects the City will prepare for the summit.
The projects, mostly in the North Reclamation Area, include the rehabilitation of roads and drainage systems, street lighting, creation of traffic and road signs, pedestrian railings, center island fencing and repainting, landscaping and planting of Indian trees in undeveloped areas.
In all, rehabilitation of the roads from the White Gold Terminal to SM City and the construction of the drainage system will cost about P350 million.
CPA, on the other hand, is in the process of paying the City P8 million in estimated taxes.
As agreed, part of the amount will be used in relocating 170 squatters on the sidewalks of Baclig St., which is adjacent to Sergio Osmeña Ave. and along T. Padilla St. to the boundary of Cebu City and Mandaue City.
The CPA has opened Baclig St. to the public to decongest the traffic on S. Osmeña Ave., which City Hall is also expanding. (RHM/MBG)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 23, 2006 issue)
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