Right developments
Friday, February 29th, 2008In a span of one week, we are able to report on good and happy news about our ports. First was the announcement that a PPA port has been converted into a Port Management Office (PMO). This weans the Pulauan Port of Dapitan City away from the Port District Office of Cagayan de Oro. Now, we have the announcement that very soon, the City Mayor and the Provincial Governor shall become members of the Cebu Ports Authority Commission. We see this as a trend towards letting the Local Governments participate in determining how ports are developed, maintained and operated.
Hopefully, this trend will continue and perhaps accelerate so that port performance, which impacts immediately on the local economy is no longer determined by bureaucrats sitting in their offices far away from where the action is. Also, we hope that CPA is finally also be weaned from over-influence from PPA policies and actions.
Already, Mayor Osmena of Cebu City has put forward his initial recommendations on CPA’s priority moves and concerns. He is correct when he says that the local officers would be in a better position to look into port operational matters which affect the general public, especially the consumers that eventually bear the brunt of port inefficiency.
