THE Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) wants the City Government to require large developers to submit a traffic impact assessment.
That way, their projects’ effects on the traffic situation will be mitigated, said Atty. Rafael Christopher Yap, acting CCTO head.
He said developers should figure out how their projects won’t contribute to the city’s already heavy traffic.
Mandatory
Yap pointed this out during the three-day executive-legislative agenda (ELA) meetings last week.
Yap said the Office of the Building Official and the City Planning and Development Office do not require developers to submit a traffic impact assessment to secure permits of their constructions.
However, Yap said the City Council should come up with a legislation to make it mandatory.
Former city councilor Gerardo Carillo pushed for a similar measure but it was turned down.
Yap said he hopes that won’t be the case this time.
He also suggested during the ELA meetings that City Government should enter into a partnership with an international nongovernmental organization (NGO) that advocates clean air to improve air quality in the city.
Transport sources, he said, have been identified as major sources air pollution, that’s why something has to be done.
Proposal
To address it, Yap proposed that Mayor Tomas Osmeña, as representative of the City Government, should ink a partnership with Clean Air Asia.
According to its website, Clean Air Asia is an international NGO that leads the global mission for better air quality and healthier, more livable cities in Asia.
The organization also aims to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in more than a thousand cities in Asia through science-based policies and programs that cover air quality, transport and industrial emissions and energy use.