Mayor Alvin Vergara said the Cesar Vergara Bridge which construction started during the time of his predecessor, former Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara, was formally opened to traffic on Monday.
The three-lane bridge that spans 810 linear meters is part of the Felipe Vergara Highway that starts from Barangay Sumacab Norte and passes through the five so-called “Ibayong Ilog” villages shortens the trip to Talavera town, Vergara said.
The former mayor who was the guest speaker during the bridge’s blessing and inauguration said the new road is expected to declog the Nueva Ecija-Cagayan Valley Road that passes by the city main business districts.
“Marami pang proyekto na ipatutupad dito sa ating lungsod ang sisimulan ni Mayor Alvin at tatapusin ko naman,” the former Mayor said apparently insinuating his return for the 2010 local elections. The incumbent mayor Vergara is his cousin whom he endorsed in the last elections as he finished the three-term mandatory limit under the 1987 Consitution.
The road, he also noted, started construction under his term and blessed under his cousin’s.
Meanwhile, the city government of Cabanatuan finally closed down the oldest and biggest open dumpsite in Nueva Ecija.
Vergara said the closure of Valle Cruz dump site was in accordance with the provision of Republic Act 9003 or Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. This, he said, calls for the creation of material recovery facilities in barangays.
Earlier, the Department of Environment and Natural resources (DENR) threatened to file charges against the city government for failure to stop the dumpsite operation.
