Bacolod City – An ordinance establishing underground cabling in the City of Bacolod was recently approved on first reading by the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod.
The ordinance authored by Councilor Claudio Jesus Raymundo Puentevella said the underground cabling and wiring system project was created as one of the city government’s desire to reduce the number of deaths caused by accidental contact with electrical wires, fire incidents caused by electrical overloading, and theft and pilferage on different utility lines.
To be called the Underground Cabling Ordinance of the City, it said it will be the priority program of the City of Bacolod to undertake efforts to construct and institute underground cabling for all power and telecommunication networks operating in the city. The city will also comprehensively consult all the stakeholders so as to come up with a suitable approach to lessen the impact of this program to the capital outlays of the concerned utility companies, which includes the phasing of its implementation.
It provides that the cost for placing underground and telecommunication wires and cables, including the restoration of the excavated streets/sidewalks, will be jointly shared among the electric companies, public telecommunication carriers, and other concerned public utility firms, and this will be determined and stated in a unified underground conduit plan.
The ordinance provides that the City of Bacolod may tap the assistance of the private sector and enter into partnership/s through any appropriate agreement in order to pursue and realize the provisions of this ordinance and to achieve the purposes it has set. (Chrysee Semillano via tvds)