BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance regulating the installation and maintenance of distribution lines of various utilities in the city.
The ordinance authored by all members of the local legislative body stated the measure shall cover the construction, installation and maintenance of electrical poles and wires and telecommunication poles and cables within the jurisdiction of the city.
The City Engineer’s office and the City Building and Architecture Office and representatives from public utility companies shall develop an approved pole location plan which shall be the basis for the regulation of construction of distribution lines.
The ordinance added the approved pole location plan shall contain exact location or location site of an electric pole, pole type, the allowed voltage of distribution lines, clearances, exact traverse point of conductors and other details as necessary for the effective implementation of the measure.
Under the proposal, it shall be prohibited for all utilities to work on their electric and communication lines without securing the prescribed working permits and clearances from the City Engineer’s Office.
Further, all public utilities covered by the proposed measure shall follow a color coding scheme with their electric or communication lines and that the color must be easily recognized even from a reasonable distance and that the color arrangement shall be fixed by the City Engineering office.
The ordinance stipulated that all newly constructed or renovated commercial buildings shall allocate adequate space solely for electrical equipment installation and maintenance and the size of the area shall comply with the requirements of the Philippine Electrical Code, National Electrification Administration and electric cooperative standards.
The ordinance added all electric poles which cause danger to the public such as, but not limited to, dilapidated poles, leaning poles, poles obstructing road pavement and the like shall be removed or replaced or relocated within 15 days upon notice by the concerned authorities.
Similar provisions of the proposed ordinance shall also apply to the different telecommunication and cable companies operating in the different parts of the city to make sure that their respective lines are in place.
The ordinance mandated that it shall be the responsibility of a utility company to relocate at their own expense poles obstructing roads, alleys and sidewalks within 30 days from notice of the City Engineer’s Office.
Violators of the provisions of the ordinance shall be penalized by a fine of P2,000 for the first offense, a fine of P3,000 for the second offense and a fine of P5,000 or imprisonment of not more than one month or both fine and imprisonment upon the discretion of the court.
The ordinance provided that all public utility companies operating within the city will be given a 1-year period from the effectivity of the measure to comply with the pertinent requirements that were provided to prevent the existence of dangling wires.
By Dexter A. See