Rama: ‘Last warning’ to telecom firms to fix dangling wires

CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama called for a meeting with telecommunications firms tomorrow to revist the recurring problem of unruly and dangling wires on utility posts as safety hazards.

“At one time they were receptive, then another time they have ignored. I will give them the last warning,” Rama said in a  phone patch interview yesterday at the Cebu City Conference Hall.

Last Saturday, two women were hit by an electric  post that fell in Cebu Veterans Drive in Apas, barangay Lahug, the second incident involving a fallen utility post this month.

The victims Irene Bordon, 54,  and  Bella Bingala, 52, sustained several injuries after a boom truck owned by Khizu Development Corp. got snagged by wires hanging from the post.

Councilor Nestor Archival Sr., in a privilege speech last week, lamented  the “insensitivity and negligence” of  utility firms after the death of a 13-year-old boy in barangay  Tinago where a PLDT pole fell, after a passing truck also snagged lowlying wires. A 14-year-old city ordinance already creates  a coordinating committee for utility lines installation so Archival said it should be revived.  He is proposing amendments, such as a rement for  utility firms to check and bundle dangling wires and dilapidated posts every six months. Wires should also be 16 feet high off the ground.

Failure to comply will mean paying for the outsourced team City Hall will hire to inspect defective poles and dangling wires. A P14,000 daily fine will be imposed on violators/UP Cebu Intern Julienne Hazel Penserga

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