Legazpi mayor bares major infra projects

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By EMMANUEL P. SOLIS

LEGAZPI CITY – To sustain the development and progress of Legazpi, the city administration will construct more infrastructure projects this year, Mayor Noel E. Rosal said in an interview.

Rosal said the projects include the construction of the Legazpi City Hospital, widening of the Yawa Bridge that connects the city proper to its northern villages and Tabaco City, the new boulevard in southern part of the city and other tourism-related infrastructure projects to maintain Legazpi as the best haven for conventions and make it a center for business in Bicol.

He said the construction of the city hospital will start anytime this year and is expected to be finished before 2015 with a total funding of P60 million from the Department of Health and a counterpart of P20 million from the city government.

Upon completion, the city chief executive said, the City Health Office will manage the operation of the hospital, which will have modern facilities and equipment. The hospital will cater to the medical needs of the patients with lesser expenses. The operation of the said hospital will cost about P40 million annually to be used for the payment of salaries of doctors, nurses and other personnel and staff.

Rosal pointed out that the city administration has already established the “Botika sa Barangay” in different villages of this city. “Our constituents are now enjoying the low cost of good quality medicines. We have already three lying-in clinics operating 24 hours daily and manned by professional doctors and midwives,” he added.

Another priority project included in the drawing board of the City Planning Office is the construction of a tourism-related infrastructure -- the new boulevard in the southern part of this city, which is also expected to start this year.

The original plan of the boulevard is from Barangay Sabang up to the periphery of Legazpi and the Municipality of Sto. Domingo but the city chief executive disclosed that the construction of the project will start first along the coastal villages of Sabang, Pigcale, Centro, Baybay, San Roque up to the Regional Government Center in Barangay Rawis.

The boulevard project has an estimated road length of 2.7 kilometers, however, the right of way will utilize 24,000 linear meters. Rosal said this new boulevard will open windows for opportunities to the people of Legazpi who want to engage in any form of entrepreneurial activity that will contribute in generating jobs and employment to the constituents residing in the covered villages.

This boulevard will also make Legazpi one of the best, if not the best, havens for investment, which will help in sustaining the growing economy of this city, he added.

The National Government has already released the initial funding of P50 million out of the P150 million total project cost through the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bicol Regional Office. The amount is for the widening of Yawa Bridge, which is expected to start construction this year. The said project was proposed by the city government but the DPWH is in charge of its construction, Rosal pointed out. -- (PNA)