News Briefs

BRIDGE ACCESS FOR IRONMAN

TWO of four lanes of the Marcelo Fernan Bridge will be used by athletes of the Ironman triathlon for a bike route on the morning of Sunday, August 5.

The other two lanes will be open to vehicles going to and from Lapu-Lapu City, based on a route map released Friday by the organizers. The setup will be observed from 6 a.m. to 12 noon.

Meanwhile, the old Mandaue-Mactan bridge won’t be passable since it will be affected by the total closure of Plaridel Street to corner A. Soriano Street, according to Edwin Ermac, Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (Team) chief.

Ironman participants during the bike leg will take a detour to the new Mandaue public market and exit A. Soriano St. to avoid disrupting market goers.

Ermac said triathlon organizers approved the detour portion of the race route to the new public market.

Vehicles from Cebu City going to Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City and northern Cebu will pass M.C. Briones highway.

Vehicles headed to Lapu-Lapu City will take a right turn to U.N. Avenue using the left lanes.

The DPWH cracked part of the concrete center island for vehicles from the left lane to pass the viaduct all the way to the airport.

Vehicles in Lapu-Lapu City going to mainland Cebu will use the viaduct of Marcelo Fernan Bridge. Motorists are adivsed to follow traffic signages.

The bike leg runs 90 kilometers from Shangri-la Mactan to Talisay City via the South Reclamation Properties and back.

The race routes strictly prohibits crossing pedestrians, stray animals and any vehicles to avoid running into the race participants. Correspondent Norman V. Mendoza

DEFER DEMOLITION, COURT URGED

OCCUPANTS of Barangay Luz asked the court to defer the Aug. 3 schedule for demolition of their structures and instead allow the city government to negotiate the acquisition of the lot they are living on.

“If bought by the city we will be paying amortization of said lot directly to the city government,” said a July 25 letter which the 32 lot occupants sent to Regional Trial Court (RTC) branch 11 Judge Ramon Daomilas.

The signatories told Daomilas in their one-page letter that the proposed lot acquisition was already endorsed by the Cebu City Housing Board and approved by Mayor Michael Rama.

The housing board passed a resolution last month which recommended the acquisition of the privately owned lot in sitios Nangka, Lubi and Mabuhay that are now occupied by 32 urban poor structures.

Since the City Council’s next session is on Aug. 8, the affected families asked Judge Daomilas to defer implementation of the Aug. 3 demolition schedule. Correspondent Edison delos Angeles

LANDFILL PROJECT DEAL

CEBU City Councilor Nida Cabrera was asked to sponsor a resolution authorizing Mayor Michael Rama to enter into an agreement with Greenenergy Solutions Inc. (GSI) for processing of wastes at the Inayawan landfill site.

In a letter Janeses Ponce, chairman of the City Solid Waste Management Board told Cabrera that the waste to energy concept which GSI will implement at the landfill was approved by the City Council in resolutions passed since 2006. Cabrera is on an official trip to Japan and could not be reached for comment.

The Cebu City Integrated Waste To Energy project is estimated to cost $102 million and will generate 24 MW of energy per day. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac