Monday, November 26, 2007 Just like seeking funds, space, willingness to change is key By Charmaine Y. Rodriguez Of Sun.Star Cebu With Garry Cabotaje & Elias O. Baquero
STAY open to change. That’s how Cebuanos can help speed up infrastructure projects to answer the needs of a growing population and trigger economic growth, development planners say.
Finding funds for the projects and getting the community’s saupport for road right-of-way acquisition will be difficult. But Cebu needs to do these to gain, among others, a mass transport system, better roads and bridges and more reliable water supply in the next 25 years.
“Cebuanos have to be open to the changes that come with urbanization and globalization,” National Economic and Development Authority 7 Director Marlene Rodriguez said.
A favorable recommendation is expected next month from the Regional Development Council (RDC) 7 for the proposed Metro Cebu Mass Transportation System.
Its centerpiece is the first Light Rail Transit (LRT) system outside Metro Manila, stretching over 70 kilometers from Carcar City in the south to Danao City in the north. Work begins in 2009
Rep. Eduardo Gullas (Cebu Province, 1st district) hopes that construction can start by 2009. He had to file the mass transport bill again this year, after the 13th Congress ended before it could approve the proposal.
No opposition was raised when the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) recently presented the LRT proposal to local government officials and technical experts in Cebu City, Rodriguez said.
However, a more detailed proposal has yet to be submitted, a feasibility study prepared and “consultations (conducted) to get the pulse of the public,” she added.
Gullas said that at the recent presentation, officials agreed that instead of going uptown, the rail project should cut a straight path from Talisay to Mandaue City, following such busy roads as N. Bacalso Ave., P. del Rosario St. and Imus Road.
“This will save us millions of pesos,” Gullas said, adding that the savings can then pay for another link from mainland Cebu to Mactan Island.
President Arroyo has earmarked some P100 million for the feasibility study, Gullas added, and the AMA Holdings Corp. is looking at a build-operate-transfer scheme.
“The LRT will be safe, fast, economical and convenient. If there is any other city outside Manila that needs an LRT system, Cebu deserves one,” Gullas, a former Cebu governor, said.
Northern shores
Another project that Malacañang has pledged to support is the 9.5-kilometer Cebu North Road, from United Nations Ave. in Mandaue City to the towns of Consolacion and Liloan. President Arroyo mentioned it among her priorities in her State of the Nation Address last July.
So far, P100 million has been released for Phase 1, said Acting Regional Director Marlina Alviso of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7.
Of that, P55 million will pay for right-of-way, while the rest will cover for the preliminary civil works, such as clearing the path of existing structures and filling up swampy portions along the way.
Instead of the usual foreign loans, National Government funds will pay for the north road project, said Jerome dela Rosa, who was DPWH 7 director until last Nov. 5.
He said that after the P100 million, President Arroyo has ordered the release of P400 million each year from 2008 to 2010, all charged to the DPWH General Infrastructure Fund.
A third bridge
(The infrastructure development committee of the RDC has passed a resolution asking the Korean Government to fund the construction of the P2.3-billion Cebu North Coastal Road Project, said committee chairman Emmanuel Rabacal. He added, however, that a Cabinet undersecretary has confirmed the National Government will pick up the tab, but the project will be more modest, ending in Liloan instead of further north.)
Another proposed project, the Santander-Barili-Toledo Road that’s projected to cost P4.1 billion, is still under feasibility study by the DPWH central office.
Gullas also cited the need to construct a third bridge or build a subway like Hong Kong’s to connect mainland Cebu and Mactan Island.
“It’s up to the technical and engineering experts to decide which is ideal, a third bridge or a subway,” he said.
If a bridge is recommended, Gullas suggested that its southern access point start in Talisay City, beyond the South Road Properties, to spare Mactan Economic Zone workers from traffic in Cebu City.
The costs of pursuing these projects will be tremendous. They will arise not only from the actual work on the project, but also in the related interventions needed to deal with social or environmental impacts.
But think back to the way Cebu was 25 years ago, and the choice becomes obvious. As a former American president has said, “Neither a wise man nor a brave one lies down on the tracks of history, to wait for the train of the future to run over him.”
