Hearing to present merits of color-coded utility wires

With the passage of a resolution to set a color code on utility wires intertwining above city streets, Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday said he is willing to listen to the side of the utility firms that would be affected by the new rule through a public consultation.

Once finally approved by the city council, the resolution sponsored by councilor Hilario Davide III will require utility companies to change their wires into an assigned color within the next five years. After the fifth year, the city government will remove all black wires.

But Osmeña said the five-year period can be extended if the utility firms would request, considering that changing their present wires into another color would also mean additional cost.

"We have to do something about the unsightly wires...I strongly suspect that 80 percent of the wires are dead," Osmeña said, referring to the intertwining black wires that connect the electric posts on the streets.

The utility firms that would be affected by the ordinance include telephone, cable, and electric companies, among others.

Once the wires are color-coded, it would then be easier for the city government to determine which utility firms own wires that are in disarray.

A public hearing is to be set for the ordinance and it is there that the utility firms can present their side on the issue. - Joeberth M. Ocao