The Cebu City Council has recently approved the P3-million budget for the acquisition of the road lots and the full payment of the lot owners who are affected by the construction of a bridge linking the barangays of Guadalupe and Lahug.
The amount will be included in the next supplemental budget or to the Annual Investment Plan for calendar year 2009.
Councilor Eugenio Faelnar, president of the Association of Barangay Councils and barangay captain of Guadalupe, has written a letter to Mayor-on-leave Tomas Osmeña dated November 5, 2008 informing the mayor that the bridge linking his barangay and Lahug is almost finished.
Faelnar said that the road lots leading to the bridge are not yet fully acquired by the city and the owners of lots were not yet paid.
With such a predicament, Faelnar appealed to the mayor for the allocation of the P3 million for the affected lots.
Osmeña approved the request before he left for the United States for his scheduled chemotherapy session last Sunday.
Meanwhile, Cebu City acting mayor Hilario Davide III said that another P36 million supplemental budget will be filed next week for the payment of 13th month pay and cash bonuses for City Hall’s 5,000 employees.
The City Council will also tackle during their session next week, the proposed ordinance appropriating P2, 484,979.94 as general fund and another P457, 899,102.20 as special accounts to cover urgent and necessary expenses for the city from January 1 to December 31, 2009.
The ordinance for the allocation was tackled during last Wednesday’s regular session but was deferred for one week due to “some concerns.” — Michelle L. Palaubsanon/WAB (THE FREEMAN)