Mayor Tom seeks P72M for SRP road concreting

 
Barug Team Rama Councilors questioned a proposal to allocate P72 million in the proposed Supplemental Budget 1 for the concreting of an access road at the South Road Properties (SRP) that would lead to a causeway that connects to the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill.

“What are we going to do there? Are we trying to resurrect the landfill? We are appropriating P72 million for that? There are more (city) roads that need to be asphalted,” said Councilor Joel Garganera.

Garganera, who earlier filed a petition for the issuance of a Writ of Kalikasan which led the Court of Appeals to issue a permanent closure order, said that the concreting project is giving him an idea of the city’s plan to re-operate the landfill.

While he supports the proposed road concreting project, Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia said he can’t help but be cautious of the “underlying reasons” for its implementation.

Members of the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) bloc of the City Council earlier passed an ordinance by Councilor Eugenio Gabuya Jr. seeking the establishment of a one-hectare area inside the Inayawan landfill for use as a transfer station that will be managed and operated by the city government.

Garcia said that having a concrete road in the area would allow City Hall to facilitate activities at the landfill area.

He added that the P72 million allocation will be put to better use if spent for the repair of already “terrible” roads in the city.

Council members convene at the legislative building session hall on Friday afternoon for the continuation of their budget hearing of the P716 million SB1 proposed by Mayor Tomas Osmeña.

Of the amount, Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) is asking P131 million for the implementation of road improvement projects.

The bulk of the allocation amounting to P72 million will be spent on the concreting of the SRP road while another P35 million will be spent on the paving and retreading of various city roads.

DEPW is also asking allocations for the concreting of the Cebu City – Talisay City u-turn slot– P6.2M, purchase of computer machines with autocad and printer – P3.8M, construction of slope protection in Barangay Bonbon – P2.2M, construction of stone masonry in Barangay Talamban – P2.8M, among others.

Engineer Nilo Igot of DEPW said that the SRP road proposed for concreting is located from the corner of the Cebu South Coastal Road (CSCR), which leads to the block now occupied by the City Hall depot, the University of the Philippines Cebu – SRP Campus, the Bigfoot studios and the SRP causeway.

City Engineer Josefa Ylanan said they are merely using the landfill road as reference point on where the concreting project would end.

The said road, Ylanan said, could serve as alternative road for motorists using the CSCR.

Ylanan said that if more funding would be made available, DEPW intends to concrete the entire stretch of the road until vicinity of Vestil Street of what used to be known as the Mambaling Access Road.