Wednesday, January 09, 2008 DPWH to shoulder cost of fixing lamps
CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña got one burden off his back after the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) assured him the lampposts at the South Coastal Road will be fixed.
If left neglected once the causeway and tunnel leading to the South Road Properties (SRP) are completed, the busted lamps installed along the coastal road will affect the marketability of the 290-hectare SRP, Osmeña said.
DPWH Secretary Her-mogenes Ebdane inspected the lampposts last Monday night and saw the damage that needs to be repaired.
The mayor said it is only fair that DPWH repairs the lamps immediately since the City Government also gave the agency a five-hectare lot at the SRP, which costs around P400 million.
Tit for tat
“I pointed out to Secretary Ebdane that we gave DPWH five hectares of land that’s worth P400 million. Whatever it is, all we’re asking is for them to fix those lights because it’s a project of DPWH. So please, fix it. We do something for you, do something for us also,” he told reporters yesterday.
Ebdane was in Cebu for a meeting and the mayor said he invited him to the SRP “because I want him to understand the magnitude of the problem.”
Osmeña learned that DPWH has already bid out the project and will be awarding it to the winning bidder soon.
Each of the more than 100 lighting fixtures will cost P20,000 each.
Less than a year after they were installed, the bulbs on the lamps along the coastal road are busted. Worse, the City cannot replace the bulbs because the screws that sealed the bulbs to the posts had rusted and could not be opened.
Better quality lights
Although not all the bulbs are busted, Os-meña said all the bulbs will have to be replaced with the kind that is suitable for the coastal road.
“Our lights are supposed to last 10 years and the ones installed lasted less than a year so clearly, it’s not suitable for our purpose. It’s of low quality materials. We will need to change all the lights,” he said.
In two years time, the DPWH regional office will be ready to transfer to a lot in the interior of the SRP, near the Inayawan sanitary landfill.
Osmeña said he gave DPWH the lot because the agency helped the City in acquiring the 17-hectare Pond F.
Pond F makes up the entire 1.4-kilometer stretch facing the sea, making it the most valuable area of the SRP, which can earn P2.5 billion for the City.
Even if the Department of Tourism (DOT) is lukewarm to his offer, the mayor said he will still give the agency the lot he promised several years ago.
“I have stopped actively pursuing that because I feel I’m not getting the desired enthusiasm from DOT, although the President mentioned recently that DOT will be transferred here. But an offer is an offer, we will still give it to them when they decide to finalize the transfer,” Osmeña said. (LCR)
