Mayor to seek opinion on SRP tunnel’s safety

CEBU, Philippines - In spite the assurance of the Department of Public Works and Highways and the city engineer that the tunnel leading to the South Road Properties is safe despite the water leakage during heavy rains, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama remains unconvinced.

Rama insisted to call a meeting with the officials of the Associations of Civil Engineers of the Philippines and their counterpart in the field of architecture to seek their opinion on the situation.

City engineer Kenneth Carmelita Enriquez and DPWH district engineer Nicomedes Leonor earlier told Rama that there is nothing to worry about the water leakage seen in the tunnel during heavy rains.

Enriquez and Leonor said that the structural stability of the tunnel remains sound.

Leonor and Enriquez said the leakage can be solved by just applying rubberized cement and similar materials because the water passes through the joints of the cement blocks. But Rama said there is nothing wrong with seeking a second opinion from the experts to ensure the safety of the motorists passing in the tunnel.

Rama however said he also has other purpose in meeting with the associations of civil engineers and architects in Cebu. The mayor said he wants to request them to give him good designs of a possible third bridge that would link mainland Cebu to Cordova.

Rama wanted that the bridge will connect Cebu City to Cordova from the old Compania Maritima building on one side to the former Shell Island in Cordova on the other side.

The mayor said, as chairman of the Regional Development Council, he will lobby before the national government for the construction of the third bridge to help reduce the traffic congestion currently experienced in the two bridges connecting the mainland to Lapu-Lapu City. —/FPL (FREEMAN)