‘Help keep Cebu City sidewalks clean’

CEBU City residents should help keep  sidewalks clean as their contribution towards beautifying their city.

In a press conference at her home yesterday, philanthropist-businesswoman Mariquita Salimbangon-Yeung said some commercial establishments neglected to spruce up or  maintain their sidewalks.

She said the Beautiful Cebu Movement Foundation Inc., which she heads, will hold a Masquerade Ball on Feb. 29  to raise P10 million to fund the completion of a 2.6-kilometer  stretch of sidewalk from Fuente Osmeña to Sanciangko Street within two months.

Sidewalks from Fuente Osmeña to the Capitol were  repaved and wrought-iron streetlamps were installed last year in partnership with the Provincial Capitol.

The ball will be held at theWaterfront Hotel and Casino in  Lahug, Cebu City.

The foundation was tasked by the Cebu city government to help beautify the city’s streets and landmarks.

Yeung said she saw how parts of the newly renovated  sidewalks were littered with trash and left to fester by business owners.   She and co-chairperson Margie Lhuillier appealed to  Cebuanos to help keep the sidewalks clean.

Capitol consultant  Tessie Javier, an architect,  said the beautification of the sidewalks  of Osmeña Boulevard benefit all Cebuanos.

“We’re not afraid anymore to walk at night because the trees and sidewalks are lighted,” she pointed out.

“Sometimes people don’t realize that much work has been done to keep it that way,” she said. Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus