• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The move to establish an underground cabling system in Bacolod City is up for public hearing soon following the approval on first reading of a proposed ordinance by the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
Councilor Claudio Jesus “Kalaw” Puentevella, chairperson of the SP Committee on Energy and Public Utilities, who authored the proposal, said the underground cabling and wiring system project is in line with the city government’s initiative “to reduce the number of deaths caused by accidental contact with electrical wires, fire incidents due to electrical overloading, and theft/pilferage of utility lines”.
The proposed project also aims to ensure compliance by power, telecommunications, and cable network companies to the Philippine Electrical Code and National Building Code in the establishment, installation, and maintenance of wires, cables, and other paraphernalia, Puentevella said.
“It shall be the priority program of the City Government to undertake efforts to construct and institute underground cabling for all power and telecommunication networks operating in Bacolod,” the proposed ordinance states.
Puentevella said all stakeholders will be consulted on suitable approaches to lessen the impact of the project on the capital outlays of concerned utility companies, including the phasing of its implementation.
The city mayor may determine priority areas, but new subdivisions and city housing projects, among others, must be highly considered for this project, he added.
Megaworld Corporation already established an underground cabling system for its power and utility lines at the 34-hectare The Upper East township near the Bacolod Government Center.
Mayor Alfredo Benitez, in his State of the City Address in July this year, also said that underground cabling is part of his administration’s masterplan to make Bacolod “a truly global, modern, inclusive, and sustainable super city.”
“We will make Lacson Street the showcase of modern Bacolod. Unahon ta ibutang underground ang mga electric and telco cables da sa Lacson Street para madula ang mga eyesore nga spaghetti wires,” Benitez stressed. | CGC
