Sunday, February 18, 2007
Cabaero: Complementary development
By Nini B. Cabaero
Beyond 30
METRO Cebu is one of the fastest growing areas in the country. As the cities that comprise the metropolitan area grow in population, infrastructure and economic activity, the pressure on their local leaders expands as well.
The demand for more roads, schools, hospitals and other vital infrastructure will continue, except that in a bustling metropolis there would be a need to make these development plans comprehensive and complementary.
You cannot have schools and hospitals where there are no roads to lead to them. Roads built when there were only a few thousand vehicles would have to be widened to accommodate the growth in the number of cars and jeepneys.
The requirement of making a development plan that is comprehensive and complementary is becoming the new challenge Cebu's leaders must face as Metro Cebu booms.
The Provincial Government's "Ciudad" plan at first blush is an attractive concept. Until the Cebu City Government raised the issue on traffic congestion and the displacement of thousands of families.
The "Ciudad" plan, to be undertaken with a private company, is to create a shopping, dining and wellness destination within the city. It will have a museum, business class hotel, restaurants, shops, supermarket, a bookstore, drugstore, and a family amusement center, among others. It would be a good place for Cebuanos and their visitors to spend a Saturday night or a weekend in to enjoy and relax.
It will stand on a 2.8-hectare lot owned by the Provincial Government located in Banilad, Cebu City. The project had its groundbreaking ceremony last November but development cannot proceed after the Cebu City Council last week passed a resolution asking the City Planning Office to put on hold plans in Barangay Banilad until a study on the effects of development projects there on traffic is completed. No timeframe was given as to when the study would be finished.
There is the matter too of families living on the Provincial Government-owned lots who may be displaced by the development projects.
How the deadlock in negotiations between the City and Provincial Governments will end would depend on the leadership of these two local government units.
Gov. Gwen Garcia and Mayor Tomas Osmeña are both standing for reelection this May. While the two apparently do not have strong opponents, they would still have to face questions from the electorate. One of these questions would be on their readiness and maturity to cooperate with other Cebu leaders to harmonize development.
(ninicab@sunstar.com.ph)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 18, 2007 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
