BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – Sitting Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez is dreaming of streets without tangled telecommunication wires hanging above as he bared a historic plan of underground cabling never before attempted in this highly-urbanized center of Sugarlandia.
“We should be more aggressive in addressing it (tangled wires) and it might not be enough to take it out and our proposal was to really bring it underground,” Benitez said during the Negros Power launch of its underground cabling project yesterday.
The neophyte mayor, who first saw the need to address the untangle the unused wires of telcos, said the wires on Lacson Street poles have already been tended to by City Hall’s spaghetti wires task force but noted there seems to be not much of a difference.
He thanked Negros Power for taking the initiative for underground cabling as he pointed out that most of the unkempt wires on poles are those of telecommunication and cable television firms as he added that they are waiting for the approval of a proposed ordinance of Councilor Kalaw Puentevella that will require these companies to bring their cables underground.
Negros Power vice president and chief operations officer Bailey Del Castillo told the audience at the launch yesterday that Lacson Street, this city’s central business district of sorts, is expected to look cleaner as soon as thru finish their first underground cabling project.
He said it will span one kilometer from the junction of Fifth Street and the South Capitol Road to Lacson’s intersection with BS Aquino Drive that passes through around 15 blocks and intersections.
Roel Z. Castro, Negros Power president and chief executive officer, said they undertook the project not only because it was requested by Benitez but because it is part of their sustainable development goals to have a “livable and lovable city.”
He also pointed out that the project will not just be about “aesthetics” or pleasing to the eye but will also impact safety and reliability of their power services.
He pointed out their underground cabling project will only cover a total of six kilometers for it to be “unfelt” by consumers since doing it in the four cities and two towns covered by their franchise will magnify costs by 10 times and might require ERC aporoval if it impacts on their power rates.
He said this project is already included in the P2 billion capital expenditures they will infuse into the joint venture.
