Monday, April 07, 2008 Safer way to fly kites sought
IT is summer, no classes, time to fly kites.
Not so fast, said the Cebu City Council through a measure crafted by Councilor Arsenio Pacaña.
The council asked the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) to help implement provisions of City Ordinance No. 1471, which prohibits kite flying in streets, alleys, bridges and other places.
The ordinance is aimed at ensuring the safety and welfare of children.
Kite flying is supposedly done in open spaces, where the strings do not get snagged by electrical wires, roofs, and tree branches.
Ordinance 1471 sets the guidelines for kite flying, including a provision that says children below 12 years old should be accompanied by an adult.
It also orders that kites should be flown only in an open area of about 3,000 square meters.
But since it is difficult to find an open area in Cebu City, especially in the urban barangays, children fly kites on roads and even on top of buildings. And in many cases, children end up getting electrocuted or hit by vehicles.
Many power interruptions are also caused by kites that get entangled with high-tension wires.
Compromise
The councilors noticed that “the diminished number of open spaces in this city seems to have pushed young kids to use the major thoroughfares...which tend to compromise their safety.”
“The dense presence of crisscrossing, high-tension electric wires above the streets, coupled with numerous speeding vehicles on the road definitely make street kite flying dangerous,” they said.
And the practice by some kite enthusiasts to attach sharp crystals to their kite lines for “duels” also endangers road users, especially motorcycle riders who might get in contact with them, read Pacaña’s resolution.
The ABC, composed of all 80 Cebu City barangays, will remind members to have their personnel monitor their areas to make sure the measure is followed. (RHM)
