Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara said that good governance and prudent use of government resources will make sure that students in public schools within the city are assured of enough classrooms as the city government recently turned over two four-storey school buildings in separate public central schools, Cabanatuan East Central School (CECS) in Barangay Bantug, and Lazaro Francisco Elementary School (formerly Cabanatuan West Central School) in Barangay Zulueta here.
The newly turned over school building in CECS with seven classrooms each level or a total of 28 classrooms has solved the shortage in the school which has 3,900 students, according to city schools division superintendent Rhoda Razon.
Vergara said the school buildings were constructed through the Special Education Fund (SEF) which is part of the real property taxes collected by the city government.
Vergara added that more schools stand to benefit from SEF as P111 million of the P140-million target for the year has already been raised as of April 30, 2017. The SEF has also incurred a savings of P70-million from last year for a total of P210-million this 2017.
Among these schools are the Cabanatuan City Science High School with 1,562 students, Caalibangbangan Integrated School with 1,400, Camp Tinio National High School and Camp Tinio Elementary School with a total of 3,500.
The city government also sees construction of school buildings in the villages of Aduas, Accfa and Imelda.
Schools designed by the city government vary from seven to nine classrooms per level, all four-storeys, the mayor said.
Soon, the city government will also build a sports complex to accommodate huge activities such as the Central Luzon Regional Athletic Association (CLRAA) meet on a 20,000-square meter area in the posh village of Kapitan Pepe, near the city hall compound, Vergara vowed.
On-going is the construction of a P410-million threelane bridge in Barangay Cruz Roja to Barangay Sapang. This will serve as alternate to the usually clogged Valdefuente Bridge in Barangay Valdefuente to Mayapyap that crosses Upper Pampanga River to ease traffic along Cagayan Valley Road from this city to northern places, including Cagayan Valley Region.
The bridge was originally designed at 1.05 kilometers (1,050 meters) but was extended by 150 meters, Vergara said. It is being constructed on the standard of Metro Rail Transit with board piling, capping and girdle, he explained.
The money used in this project was derived from the rentals of SM Holdings to the Central Transport terminal, it was learned.
Among the latest investments expected to beef up infrastructure and schools funds were SMDC Homes, Avida Homes, S&R which establishes its first-ever 2-storey building here and Wilcons.
