MORE NEWS, BENGUET

Beneco junks Baguio offer for streetlights
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The tiff between the city government and management of the Benguet Electric Coop. on payment of city lights has gone worse due to reported intransigence of the former in assessing the situation.

The Beneco is now wishing the city government of Baguio the best of luck in the management of streetlights, saying it is hoped the local government unit could provide efficient and effective service in the city’s 128 barangays.

This developed as the Beneco board of directors junked the offer made by the city council, particularly councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda, that the city must only be billed for 10 burning hours and not 12 burning hours, which is an industry practice.

Gerardo P. Verzosa, Beneco general manager, said it is unfortunate the city could spend P15 million monthly fo5r the hauling of garbage to Tarlac but it could not spare a maximum of P500,000 annually in inc5reased power bills for streetlights so that the electric cooperative could maintain the city’s streetlights at 12 burning hours.

If Makati City, San Fernando City, Cabanatuan City, Angeles City and other urban areas nationwide could pay their distribution utilities the mandatory 12 burning hours, Verzosa asked why the city could not do so when the same is duly approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

According to him, the additional two burning hours of expenses to the city is not that big that it could eat up a large portion of the city’s budget but it is unfortunate there are some local officials who refuse to think for the welfare of their constituents.

Once the cooperative manages the maintenance of the city’s streetlights, the bulbs, photo switches and other amenities of the streetlights will be given to the city for free plus the fact that it would be the company’s maintenance teams which will do the replacement of busted bulbs.

The city’s action in insisting for 10 burning hours billing came even if a lot of sectors are supporting the move of the cooperative to transfer the management of the city’s streetlights to Beneco because of the firm’s efficient and effective service.

Verzosa said if Beneco would manage the city’s streetlights with 12 burning hours, the city could re-allocate the funds intended for the purchase of streetlight fixtures to other more productive endeavors for the benefit of the people plus the fact that the citizens will enjoy efficient services of the streetlights.

The general manager said he hopes the city engineer’s office could efficiently and effectively manage the city’s streetlights considering the numerous complaints being lodged against them for the delayed replacement of busted streetlights due to the tedious bidding process to be done for the purchase of the fixtures.

Verzosa urged Baguio electricity users understand the fact that their officials are the ones against their providing a more effective management of the streetlights since they want to save more money rather than investing the people’s taxes for satisfactory service.

The Beneco official said they could not do anything if the city insisst on what they want for their streetlights but they must make sure that the people will be satisfied on the services they are providing so that they will not be pestered by complaints of busted streetlights which take too long to be replaced. -- Dexter A. See