Rama: Remove deco lampposts

CEBU, Philippines - They are supposed to be decorative lampposts, but now they are more of eyesores.

The Cebu City government wants all lampposts installed and used during the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in 2007 be removed from city streets.

This is because contrary to its original purpose, the lampposts have become an obstruction since they are occupying the sidewalk.

The idea of removing the lampposts from the city streets came from Mayor Michael Rama, who instructed the City Traffic Operations Management (CITOM) to coordinate with the proper agency in Manila on how they can go over the removal of the controversial streetlamps.

CITOM Executive Director Rafael Yap said that he was in Manila last Saturday to visit the Office of Special Prosecutor Wendell Sulit where he was told to coordinate with the Visayas Ombudsman and the Commission on Audit. The two offices need to conduct an inspection of all the lampposts installed in Cebu City then come up with a report of its status or present condition.

“We are trying to check what we can do with the lampposts. Because for us, it is already an obstruction and secondly, the structures are fundamentally useless because the innards are no longer there, wala na’y wiring, gipangawat na,” Yap said.

Yap said that to remove the lampposts, they have to coordinate with the proper authorities pending the case over the alleged overpricing of the items by the Department of Public Works and Highways officials in connivance with some local government officials.

A formal communication will be sent to the Office of the Special Prosecutor to express their intent to remove the lampposts and to formally ask how they can do it without being questioned later considering that the items are subject of a pending litigation.

Yap said that the conduct of the inspection was initially advised.

He was told that the inventory might be necessary and might be used as evidence in the pending case.

“We will conduct the inspection then it is up to the court if they will grant our request or deny it,” Yap said.

There are 138 lampposts along Serging Osmeña Boulevard while others, not recorded yet, are installed along Juan Luna Avenue to Salinas Drive up to Marco Polo Plaza Hotel in Nivel Hills, Lahug.

Rama said he wants to remove the lampposts ever since because they are no longer pleasant to the eye.

They also want it removed along Osmeña Blvd. to pave way for an ongoing beautification project.

The lampposts were installed supposedly to beatify the selected streets of Cebu City, Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City during the 12th ASEAN Summit in 2007 attended by several heads of state.

But shortly after the summit, the lampposts started to deteriorate due to lack of proper maintenance. All lampposts have lost their wirings to thieves.

The lampposts are still the subject of the controversy after its purchase was found irregular because the prices were marked up by over 2000 percent.

There were 1,800 overpriced lampposts purchased for the ASEAN summit.

Each lamppost was supposed to cost P50,000 to P55,000 but it was found that the government paid more. Based on the computations, the government paid about P250,000 for each item, a loss of over P45 million.

Yap said that if the court will not agree to remove the lampposts, there are plans to just decorate them.

Rama said he might want them painted black and hang plants on them. — /NLQ (FREEMAN)