Care to clear the streets?

One problem that Cebu’s government leaders must address with dispatch is congestion in the streets particularly in the metropolis.

The task of opening spaces in our thoroughfares easily counts as one of the realistic and achievable to-do items that incoming Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III urged local government heads and citizens to focus on.

All sectors should collaborate to surmount the challenge not only because the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit may be held here in 2015 and the International Eucharistic Congress will unfold here in in January 2016.

The streets must be cleared not only because Cebu is a major domestic and international tourist hub.

Our experience with keeping up appearances has been costly. Remember the still unresolved scam involving the lampposts installed in the streets in time for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit of 2007?

Many of our leaders appeared so concerned with pulling off a one-off ornamental feat, only to be exposed to have benefited from its overpricing.

Long after Asean 2007, Cebu’s streets have seen little improvement except for the beautification of the Osmeña Boulevard sidewalks.

So congestion in the streets must not persist any longer. The sooner we clear our roads and roadsides the quicker we make a collective statement self-respect and care for one another.

Today, Cebu’s streets still reflect the ugly face of our democratic experiment.

Our streets are where pedestrians use the road and motorists use the sidewalk. They are exhibition sites for all sorts of traffic violations, not to mention for the consequences of rising sea levels due to global warming because of our poor or absent sewage systems.

Our streets are where the homeless and the hungry find a home, where the penniless commit a host of petty crimes, where syndicates pull our women and children into sexual slavery.

Our streets testify to our failure to provide welfare services for the most needy among us.

We must devise an integrated approach to clearing our streets. Only then will they be ideal places to walk, for tourists, but first of all for ourselves.