Saturday, June 30, 2007 Editorials: Projects freeze in north Cebu City
EXPANDING the moratorium on development projects in Cebu City's northern areas is the more sensible move compared with the one earlier done by the City Council.
The Council resolution limiting the development projects ban to Banilad was ill-motivated because its main goal was to scuttle Capitol's Ciudad project.
And it was narrow because it didn't consider the bigger picture, which City Planning Officer Nigel Paul Villarete described as runaway development in the north.
But here's the catch: Villarete's version of the moratorium and his reason for suggesting it could clash with the real intent of the ban the Council imposed in Banilad.
Or to put it simply, honest intention could tangle with ill motive.
Contrasting motives
Villarete’s intention for the freeze, for example, is to allow City Hall to assess the situation in the north and implement a controlled and rational development plan there.
That contrasts with the main intention of the freeze in development projects in Banilad, the Council’s claim of traffic congestion as the main reason notwithstanding.
The lifting of the ban in Banilad is dependent on the resolution of the conflict between Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and Mayor Tomas Osmeña.
The lifting of Villarete’s version of the moratorium, meanwhile, is dependent on any rational development plan that City Hall can map out for the north.
What if the Gwen-Tom conflict won’t be resolved even if a development plan for the northern barangays is already in place, will the Ciudad project be allowed to proceed?
City-wide freeze
But ill motives aside, the moratorium on development projects should include the southern areas because a rational city-wide growth plan would be more effective.
“Runaway development” in the city’s northern sector has not been balanced by growth in the southern areas, something that City Hall should also address.
Any moratorium, though, can only be temporary and should be lifted immediately once a development plan is in place.
But that may not be said of the Banilad development projects freeze, which could be in place for as long as the mayor’s rift with the governor is not resolved.
