Villarete: No lifting of Ciudad moratorium

City Planning and Development Coordinator Nigel Paul Villarete yesterday said he would not recommend for the lifting of moratorium on Capitol's "Ciudad" project and the construction of other establishments in Banilad.

"The traffic impact study we conducted in Banilad is almost complete. Based on that, I'm 95 percent sure that my office will not recommend for the lifting of moratorium," he said.

He explained that they are only waiting for the information on the building permits that were approved by the Office of the Building Official to be able to complete the study.

Like Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem, Villarete also received a copy of the traffic consideration of the provincial government's "Ciudad" project, which is located along Gov. Cuenco Avenue.

Villarete said without waiting for orders, his office would do evaluation of the "Ciudad's" traffic plan together with the City Traffic Operations Management. "We will have to make our own evaluation with respect to both traffic situation and development in the area."

But he said "Ciudad's" traffic plan only shows the gate going in and out of the building, which could not alleviate the traffic problem in the area.

However, if the project would generate 10,000 to 15,000 jobs, as what former Mayor Alvin Garcia earlier revealed, Villarete said it would surely contribute to the congestion in Banilad.

Villarete explained that even before the "Ciudad" issue crops up, his office had already requested for a moratorium on the development projects in Banilad because the traffic in the area is becoming worse.

"Last year, we were even apprehensive of the traffic situation there because the area is a hotbed of development," he said, adding that more than half of the permit applications for subdivisions approved by the city were from that area.

He also clarified that the moratorium is not meant to stop the developments in the area but just to regulate them to be able to manage the traffic situation there. "We try to put up some constraints and not stoppage of development."

With the worsening traffic situation of the city, Villarete said he would ask the City Council to come up with a resolution to request the National Center for Traffic Study to study the possibility of requiring those planning to put up big buildings to come up with traffic impact assessment study.

At present, Villarete said only three cities in the country - including Davao and Antipolo - have institutionalized the traffic impact assessments in their laws. - Wenna A. Berondo/LPM