Underground cabling done by July

The pilot project for the underground cabling of all spaghetti wires, particularly those of telecommunication companies, along a portion of Osmeña Blvd. is targeted to be finished simultaneous with the completion of Package 1 of the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT) this July.

This is what City Councilor Jerry Guardo, Cebu City Council committee on infrastructure chairman, revealed last Friday, in an interview with the media, during his ocular inspection of the removal of the skywalk near Robinsons Fuente for the CBRT project.

“Kay ang gusto namo inig-turnover sa CBRT sa kaning Package 1 (this July), malubong na sad underground kaning mga utilities of both sides (of Osmeña Blvd.), para inigturn over, wala na moy makita nga over-the-head wires along the main street,” he said.

Guardo said he recently spoke with the proponent of the underground installation of cable wires, which he identified as “Metroworks”, on the underground cabling of an 800-meter stretch of Osmena Blvd. from Fuente Osmeña rotunda to the P. del Rosario St. intersection.

He said that since the CBRT Package 1’s target completion is July this year, they are also targeting to complete the pilot project at the same time.

The said project, whose cost Guardo declined to reveal in the meantime, would serve as a pilot project before the eventual 90-kilometer underground cabling all over the city would be implemented.

“Ang ilang budgetary requirement… has already been approved by their (proponent) chairman,” the councilor said.

He said Metroworks created a technical working group that did the study and came up with the budgetary need for the pilot project.

He is now crafting an ordinance for the joint venture agreement for the pilot project, which is aimed to eliminate the unsightly hanging wires.

Guardo said he is still waiting for the draft of the agreement from the Office of the Mayor, which was why he could not yet divulge the amount for the pilot project.

“Kay ang gusto namo inig turn-over sa CBRT sa kaning Package 1, malubong na sad underground kaning mga utilities of both sides, para inig-turnover, wala na moy makita nga over-the-head wires along the main street,” Guardo said.

The 800-meter pilot project, he said, would serve as a “proof of concept” of the underground cabling system, or as a showcase how public streets would look like without the overhead wires.

“So ang amo lang gihangyo ni mayor, sa City Government, (sa

Metroworks) nga maimplement nila ang partial lang, diri lang sa, proof of concept. Para makita nato ang pilot area, ‘uy nindot kaayo’, so ma-appreciate sa City and the mayor,” Guardo said.

He said that what actually remains now are the wires of telecommunication companies, because Visayan Electric (VECO) already implemented its own underground cabling on the portion of Osmeña Blvd. from the Escario St. intersection to the P. del Rosario St. intersection.

“So wala nay poste sa VECO, ang ato nalang kaning mga Telco wires,” Guardo said. –