‘CLEAR ROADS FOR APEC’

DPWH to suspend excavations along APEC route starting June
Cebu is 80% ready for APEC meetings, organizers claim

APEC PREPARATIONS. Marciano Paynor, director general of the APEC 2015 National Organizing Committee, shares a light moment with Maj. Gen Nicanor Vivar, AFP Central Command chief, before the start of a closed-door meeting at the Capitol. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

Excavations and road projects between APEC meeting venues in Cebu, Mandaue and Mactan will be suspended starting June.

This is to ensure that at least 3,200 delegates to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) high-level meetings in Cebu will be able to travel from one venue to the next with  minimal discomfort.

The meetings will be held from August to October. Among the venues are Radisson Blu Hotel, Marco Polo Plaza Hotel, and Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa.

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) regional director Ador Canlas said he has issued a memorandum advising all utility companies that excavations will not be allowed in roads leading to APEC venues.

“As early as a month ago, I already issued that memorandum. If they can’t finish it by (the time) APEC (is held), then they shouldn’t start. If they’ve already started, I told them to fast track,” he told Cebu Daily News.

All DPWH projects on roads leading to meeting venues will be suspended by July 15. This should give them time to clean and clear the roads before the meetings start in August.

Canlas, who heads the APEC local committee on road networks, bared their preparations after national organizers cited traffic as a major concern.

Marciano Paynor, Jr., director general of the APEC 2015 National Organizing Council, yesterday said Cebu is 80 percent prepared to host the meetings.

But local organizers should ensure smooth traffic flow, he added.

“All we need to do is refine and tweak (the preparations). So, I emphasize that the area of concern actually is traffic,” he told reporters in a press conference after his meeting with the local organizing committee at the Capitol yesterday.

Paynor said there will be 35 to 40 meetings in Cebu. Eight or 10 will be held simultaneously in one day. Delegates from 21 APEC economies will be moving from one venue to another to attend various meetings.

“If it takes them an hour or an hour and a half to go from here to Mactan, where if there will be no traffic, it’ll take them only 30 to 40 minutes, then it’s an issue,” said Paynor.

Traffic is bad during peak hours in Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities. Paynor said there are ongoing road projects in these cities that could hinder traffic flow.

He said they will need to stop construction in areas that will affect traffic.

“We cannot stop progress. We cannot stop improving our road networks. We continue to repair and maintain. So we will just need to ensure that we have a plan so that at a certain point, we will need to perhaps stop the construction in areas that will affect traffic,” he said.

Canlas, in a telephone interview, said there are at least 30 ongoing projects under the Cebu City Engineering District as of March 31 this year. Ten are set to be completed after July.

Canlas cited a project along the Mactan Circumferential Road, which leads to one of the venues. This will be completed by June.

An asphalting project on Plaridel Street in Cebu City will be affected, he said. There is a road concreting project on a portion of M.J. Cuenco Ave., but its target date of completion was not specified.

“That’s as far as we have discussed. We will be having several more meetings. I already have a monitoring team to make sure that projects within the APEC route will be suspended effective July 15,” he told CDN.

Cebu will host the Third Senior Officials’ Meeting on Aug. 24 to Sept. 6; Senior Finance Officials’ Meeting on Sept. 9-10; Central Bank Deputies’ Meeting on Sept. 10; and Transportation Industry CEO Roundtable and Energy Industry CEO Roundtable in October.

Ministerial meetings include: Structural Reform Ministerial Meeting on Sept. 7-8; Finance Ministerial Meeting on Sept. 10-11; Transportation Ministerial Meeting on Oct. 8-10; and Energy Ministerial Meeting on Oct. 12-14.

Paynor said they want to ensure the delegates will have a positive impression of Cebu and of the Philippines.

“We are very confident that Cebu, with its experience hosting the Asean Summit in 2006 and 2007, will be able to host these meetings,” he said.

He said Asean heads of state were satisfied with the arrangements then.

“I don’t see why it can’t be done now,” Paynor said.

At least 3,200 delegates as well as their spouses and children are expected to attend these meetings.

Paynor said 80 percent of the Philippines’ total trade is with APEC member economies.

APEC members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.