City consults different sectors for multi-year development plan

The city government’s consultation with various sectors over issues and goals of the latter has been going on until next month, with the gathered data to be used in setting up the Cebu City Plus 10—a module for the city’s multi-year development plan.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña said yesterday this consultation will be concluded with a plenary meeting where representatives of  the different sectors are expected to present their concerns and propose their solutions that would be carried out in the next 10 years. 

The issues and possible solutions will be integrated in the plenary and would form part of the Cebu City Plus 10.

“This will support policy direction…a compressed approach to long term planning,” Osmeña said, adding that collating distinctive concerns of every sector now would provide the platform for easier governance to benefit the succeeding administrations. 

“It’s good for the city to know what the sectors feel and it’s good for the administration to take note of these concerns,” Osmeña said.

The mayor said the city would make the module as simple as possible, and that these consultations would mainly carry two questions: How a sector would like to see itself in 10 years and what obstacles are there that would prevent this goal from being achieved.

Osmeña however wanted the sectors to quantify their respective data given during the consultations to make the planning more effective.

For example, he said, if the education sector aims to improve the city’s literacy rate, it should specify what percentage of the population is literate rather than merely describing it as either good or bad.

With quantifiable data, a solid figure can be arrived at between the literates and the non-literates of the population, thus, making it easier for the sector to work on the issue at hand.

Among the sectors given priority in the consultation include education, urban, business and peace and order.

Osmeña said he would facilitate the consultation himself with the people who have been working for the city’s peace and order situation. – Joeberth M. Ocao/RAE