Saturday, June 07, 2008 CH to cut fuel consumption
TO COPE with the increase of fuel prices, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña wants City Hall officials and personnel to reduce fuel consumption by at least 25 percent and to adopt other energy conservation measures.
Osmeña also ordered to cut down to 14 days the processing of payments for infrastructure projects to mitigate the escalating cost of construction materials.
In a memorandum, the mayor instructed all drivers of City Government-owned vehicles to turn off the vehicle’s engine and air-conditioning units when making stops exceeding three minutes.
Energy conservation
“Due to the spiraling increase of the cost of fuel, everyone is urged to adopt energy conservation. All Cebu City employees are required to adopt the following measures without, of course, sacrificing our mandated basic services,” he said in the memorandum signed yesterday.
City Administrator Francisco Fernandez said that those who violate the memorandum may face investigation before the employee-management committee on inquiry.
Because of the increase in the prices of gasoline products, the City Government had to increase its monthly allocation for fuel from P5 million to P8.2 million as of May.
The amount covers the fuel allocation for the City’s 600 vehicles.
On the fuel conservation measure, Osmeña wants fuel consumption reduced by at least 25 percent. Anyone exceeding the reduced allocation must secure permission from the mayor.
Random check
He also instructed the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management to check on a random basis whether government vehicles are strictly enforcing the policy on the issuance of a trip ticket before a government vehicle leaves their respective offices.
“This could include vehicles of other government agencies and not just the City Government because the issuance of a trip ticket is a National Government policy,” Fernandez said.
In the same memo, the mayor asked the accounting and treasury offices to form an express lane to process claims for payment of infrastructure projects.
To mitigate the escalating cost of construction materials, especially steel bars, the processing of payments should not exceed two weeks, according the memo. (LCR)
