CLEARING OPERATION. Telecommunication company personnel fix and remove messy wires along Gatuslao Street in Bacolod City last month. As of Monday (Oct. 10, 2022), at least 30.53 tons of “spaghetti” wires have been removed along major streets since the operation started on July 16. (Photo courtesy of Bacolod City Police Office)
BACOLOD CITY – Major streets in this city have been cleared of 30.53 tons of “spaghetti” wires since July 16 in an effort to fix and remove hazards and nuisance in public pathways.
As of Monday, among the areas cleared include the downtown area as well as portions of main roads such as Burgos, Lacson and Gatuslao streets.
Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said the clearing is being carried out in close coordination with various telecommunications (telco) companies and the Central Negros Electric Cooperative, which owns the electrical posts where wires are mounted or connected.
“We delivered on our commitment to clean the city’s image. We created the Bacolod City Task Force on Spaghetti Wires to remove the entangled electric wires and telecom cables,” the mayor said in his first 100 days report over the weekend.
Benitez said the collected wires will be donated to the vegetable farmers in Barangay Alangilan and other beneficiaries to be used in vegetable production.
The mayor also said he is looking at a long-term solution to the problem by planning to place telco and electric wires underground.
In Executive Order (EO) No. 3 issued last July, the mayor ordered the removal, clearing, and reorganizing of all “spaghetti” wires located in the main streets, sidewalks, alleys and public places.
These wires include those abandoned, damaged and not being used, which have become an eyesore due to being messy, entangled, and disorganized.
Being a nuisance, these could cause injury or endanger the health and safety of the public and obstruct or interfere with free passages of any public highway or street, EO 3 stated.
Survey showed some 90 percent of these wires are considered damaged and no longer functional. (PNA)
