Rama says utility firms must meet deadline on wires
The scene of leaning utility posts holding up spaghetti wire was cited by Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama who saw the photo in Cebu Daily News front page on Tuesday. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
UTILITY firms have to fulfill their promise to remove all dangling wires and hazardous posts in Cebu City by May next year, Mayor Michael Rama said yesterday.
He didn’t say what would happen if the second deadline he gave isn’t followed.
Rama said he plans to meet this time with company presidents and other superiors of the utilities based in Manila like PLDT and other telcos .
“That deadline has to be seriously (followed). Dili man na mahimong duwa-duwaan (This should not be taken lightly),” Rama said.
He said this in reaction to a statement by Engr. Cayetano “Dodong” Cruz of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), who said the May 1 deadline was “impossible” for them to meet.
“Dili sila mag-una-una. Ang nakaproblema man gud nila is mag una-una sila nga dili ma-meet. Unya namirma sila didto. Masuko na sad kog balik (They shouldn’t say that outright. The problem with them is that they immediately say they can’t do it. And then they signed the pledge. I will get angry again).”
Rama pointed out that representatives of the firms agreed on the new deadline during their last meeting with the mayor at City Hall on Oct. 30.
Aside from PLDT, other firms who attended the meeting and signed the pledge include Visayan Electric Co. (Veco), Globe Telecom, Bayantel, Telecphil, and CCTN.
Rama cited a Cebu Daily News front page photo in the Nov. 3 issue which showed several leaning posts loaded with spaghhetii wires on a sidewalk of F. Ramos Street with a pedestrian passing below.
“I want to visit their heads in Manila. I will talk to their president. If I talk to the taipans, I will do it one by one. We should be acting on things as fast as we can. Kita bitaw ko sa CDN. Gwapo kaayo to. Pila to ka poste (I saw in CDN. It was good. It showed several posts). That’s already proof they are making the city dirty,” he said.
Sanctions
On the plight of the family of 13-year-old Ralph Bureros, the boy who was killed by a concrete utility post that fell on him after a passing vehicle snagged overhead wires, the mayor said he will attend to it.
“Let his father come to my office and I will pay for the burial expenses. At the same time, I will demand payment from the PLDT or whoever they are,” he said.
The father of Ralph, Edmundo, told Cebu Daily News the family had an unpaid bill of P8,000 with the funeral parlor and lamented that the tragedy was already forgotten by the public, except by his next of kin.
Both PLDT and Veco had given the family financial assistance of P25,000 after the accident. A quit claim was reportedly signed.
The mayor told PIO supervisor Elmer “Jojo” Labella to contact the Bureros family.
Rama earlier set a new deadline for utilities to clear the city of dangling wires and redundant poles after the firms reported only 10-percent completion of their pledge to finish the work by the mayor’s birthday last October 28.
PHOTOS
The mayor was given a report by the city’s Technical Infrastructure Committee (TIC), which has representatives from utility firms as members.
It contained “partial accomplishment report” on bundling of messy wires and clearing dead wires in several streets.
The report showed before-and-after photos of parts of D. Jakosalem St., Sanciangko St., Borromeo St., P. Del Rosario St. and Leon Kilat St. beside E-Mall.
These were also done along Gen. Echavez St., Legaspi St., Gen. Junquera St., M.C. Briones St. at the back of City Hall, Magallanes St., Bonifacio St., portion of Sinulog route, R.R. Landon St., P.
Gomez St., Plaridel Extension, F. Gonzales St., F. Jaca St., Quiot Pardo, Sikatuna St., Don J. Llorente St. and sitio Tsangge, Sambag 1, Urgello Private Road.
PLDT also reported the area where they were able to finish bundling messy wires along the route of the APEC meetings.
These include Mactan Road in Lapu-Lapu City, Plaridel St. to Ouano Ave. in Mandaue City, Pope John Paul II Ave., Salinas Drive, and Nivel Hills in Cebu City.
Both reports were signed by PLDT-TIC representative Cayetano Cruz, Field Service Supervisor Greg Yap and AVP and head of Cebu CS Operations Zone Elmer Lintag.
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