Think Bits
The repair of the first Mandaue Mactan bridge is inconveniencing commuters, public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers and motorists alike and the rising number of complaints is causing quite a migraine on local officials of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.
Recently, Mr. Lim of Mactan’s power sector expressed his disappointment with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for not coordinating with them on the repair.
Mr. Lim pointed out that the bridge repair would affect the island’s power supply due to their line in the bridge. But what really bothers both islands is the horrendous traffic caused by the bridge repair.
There are many suggestions to resolve the traffic like implementing three work shifts so the bridge repair can be expedited to one month instead of three.
The government is also encouraging the private sector to provide more ferries that would transport the people from Cebu City to Mactan. Another suggestion is to operate barges that would transport vehicles from Cebu City to Mactan island.
I am hoping that stakeholders continually dialogue on this until they can come up with solutions to solve the traffic problem.
I agree with the DPWH that we could no longer postpone the repair. But it can be done while minimizing the traffic inconvenience it had inflicted on the riding public once it got implemented.
Right now, it will take sometime before the bridge repair can be completed. If the stakeholders can find ways to speed it up without sacrificing the quality of work done on the bridge then I say let’s go for it.
At the same time, the DPWH should be more mindful of the complaints raised by the riding public and the stakeholders on the traffic congestion caused by their repairs.
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I think the full payment of the SRP debt is going to become an election issue especially now that Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has negotiated with the Landbank to move the deadline to amortize the payment of the debt from February 20 to August 20 just in time for the installation of the new administration.
In as much as the BO-PK is against the use of the proceeds of the sale of the SRP to pay for the loan and instead proposes that the city continue to pay the amortization of the loan, then I think it becomes an election issue.
If the people believe that the city should fully pay the loan using the proceeds of the sale of the SRP lots, then they should vote for Team Rama this election.
If they agree with the BO-PK position to continue paying the amortization of the loan on SRP, then they should vote for the BO-PK.
But what is interesting is how Mayor Rama manage to convince Landbank to move the deadline to pay the amortization to August 20 minus any penalty.
I think this is the right move because in the event Team Rama wins in the election surely the entire loan would be fully paid for by the city government.
The full payment of the loan would enable the city to save more funds because we would no longer be paying the loan’s interest.
But I guess the BO-PK has a hidden agenda which is why they don’t want to give Mayor Rama the opportunity to fully pay the loan. And many like me could not understand the position taken by the BO-PK.
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