Saturday, January 12, 2008 City to open SRP-Pardo road to increase accessibility
CEBU City Hall will undertake a major infrastructure project and open up four new roads to improve traffic flow in the city.
It also hopes to increase accessibility and attractiveness of the business environment to investors.
City Planning Officer Nigel Paul Villarete agreed that more infrastructure is needed in the city to lure in more investors. He specifically cited the need for traffic management infrastructure.
While Cebu City ranked eighth in the 2007 Top Ten Asian Cities of the Future survey, he believes it can do better with the right infrastructure in place and with public cooperation.
Villarete said he is happy with the ranking but Cebu City officials, the private sector and the residents should not gloat. They should instead use it as a tool and guide for improvement, focusing on the categories where the city was left out.
“Such ranking should not be taken as something to be proud of if we were on top of the list or something we have to defend and explain if we were at the bottom. We have to use it as an input in terms of knowing where we are strong and where we are weak, and we should consider each category individually for improvement,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
The survey conducted by the London-based Financial Times Group also ranked Cebu City as the fourth most cost-effective city out of 200 cities in Asia, seventh in the best quality of life category and second in the best development and promotion category.
To bring more investors to the south district, the City will open up a road that will connect the South Road Properties (SRP) to Barangay Pardo, which will make the transport of goods and people to the airport and seaport faster and easier, he said.
Four other roads within the city will be opened, but Villarete said everything will start only after the City makes its first sale at the SRP.
“We need to open the SRP-Pardo road because this is one project that will revitalize the south district, which was left behind in terms of infrastructure and attractiveness to investors. Right now it’s more difficult to transport goods and people to the airport and seaport from the south than if you were in the north district,” he said.
Villarete said the road will not only open the south to the SRP but also to more investment opportunities.
Other roads that will be opened are the Ramos Ext., which will connect F. Ramos St. to J. Llorente St., and a road parallel to Mango Ave., which will start beside Raintree Mall and go all the way to Sacred Heart Center on D. Jakosalem St.
A road from Echavez St. to Ramos St. is also being planned, as well as a street parallel to N. Bacalso Ave. in the south district, which will connect E. Sabellano to Alta Vista, exiting at the back of the church in Pardo.
Help
In a phone interview yesterday, Villarete admitted that the lack of infrastructure, congestion and traffic problems is bringing the city down and is turning off possible investors, but Cebu City is not totally deprived of it.
He said that part of the blame also goes to the attitude of and lack of cooperation from the public.
“If there is a need to defend our absence in the list of cities with the best infrastructure, you have to note that no other Philippine city is there... Another thing we should look at is that we rank eighth in the Asian Cities of the Future but in reality, when you look around people are not cooperating,” Villarete said.
He was referring to stubborn motorists who do not obey traffic rules and cause traffic by parking in no-parking areas and stopping in areas where it is prohibited. (LCR)
