THE City Government of Cagayan de Oro, through its Task Force Hapsay Kable, was able to retrieve more than 1,000 live wires and dangling cables during the first cleanup operation on Tuesday, April 17, along Yacapin-Osmena Street.
Task Force Hapsay Kable, headed by City Mayor Oscar Moreno and co-chaired by National Telecommunications Commission Regional Director Teodoro Buenavista and City Councilor Teodulfo Lao Jr., was formed to "re-groom" Cagayan de Oro to becoming a "smart city" through clean-up of sagging, inactive or abandoned wires and cables throughout the city.
The group has partnered with local telecommunication companies as well as the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company (Cepalco) in this effort.
According to Lao, even though the operation is still in its 5 percent of completion, they expect the total cleanup of the city to finish within the span of six months.
During the first day of the operation, Lao said the volunteer workers from Cepalco and local telcos took a long time in the retrieval process as they have to identify which wires are inactive or active ones.
"Sa palagay ko, mas madali na siguro on the second day, mas madali na nila ma-retrieve kaysa i-compare mo kahapon na first time nila (I think they will be able to work faster in the retrieval process on the second day than on the first day)," Lao said, adding that this time they already tagged which wires are active and which wires should be cleaned up.
He also mentioned that they were able to tap the Roads and Traffic Administration, Cagayan de Oro City Police Office, and the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Department for assistance during their operations.
"Tinap natin sila para mag assist sa safety at yung pag direct sa traffic doon sa area (We were able to tap them to assist in the safety and traffic in the area)," Lao said.
The efforts of the City Government to clean the city from messy wires did not go unnoticed as the city councilor remarked that they received positive feedbacks from the public.
"Ngayon na naging malinis na, na shock sila kahapon, akala nila hindi magawa ng City Government ang ganun. Nakita nila na serious pala ang City Government sa paglilinis ng kable dito sa daan (They were shocked when they noticed the lack of messy wires in the street for they did not expect that the City Government will actually go through with it. Now they are seeing how serious the City Government is in cleaning the dangling wires and cables along the street)," Lao said.
After the two-week target of clean up in Osmena Street, Lao said they will proceed with the operation either in Corrales or Velez Street.