Cable car system in Oro pushed anew for investors

AS both a tourist attraction and an effective mass transport system, an ‘aerial gondola’ or cable car system would draw in commuters and visitors to Cagayan de Oro’s uptown and downtown areas, a top business leader said.

While citing no cost estimates, president Raymundo Talimio of the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation Inc. (Oro Chamber) floated anew the potential viability of a cable car system project which he described as one of the biggest ‘and most attractive’ investments’ in the city during a press briefing hosted by the City Information Office.

“Coming from Claro M. Recto Avenue then heading to Cogon and the Rotunda and proceeding to SM Uptown area and Gaisano Mall in (upland) Lumbia, the cable car system can become a tourist attraction,” Talimio said, adding that the cable car system along with the proposed sewage and septage project and a modern materials recovery facility (MRF) can be marketed for funding to investors.

“(Through the MRF and sewage project) we can showcase Cagayan de Oro City as one of the first to adopt the latest technology (on sanitation) and we can solve our sewage and garbage problems,” said Talimio during Monday afternoon’s press briefing on the forthcoming Oro Best Expo and Cagayan de Oro Investment Forum scheduled in Mandaluyong City next week.

During the briefing, Talimio also cited Cagayan de Oro City Hall’s efforts under Mayor Rolando Uy’s administration in streamlining their operations in processing business requirements and strong collaboration with local industries and the academe in enhancing the city’s business and investment climate.

Talimio said one cable car can accommodate eight to 10 persons and at any given time ‘can transport 3,000 persons per hour.’

“It takes only two years to build this cable car system (and unlike hard infrastructure like flyovers) is cheaper and more feasible since it requires (strategically placed posts and cables). It’s in line with developments in the city’s uptown areas,” Talimio said.

To entice investors to fund these projects would entail amendments to the Local Investments and Incentives Code and passage of the updated Comprehensive Land Use Plan to identify which areas can be set up as economic zones, Talimio said.

Oro Trade and Investments Promotions Center (Oro-TIPC) chief John Asuncion said both fiscal and non-fiscal incentives are needed.

“In our presentation at the investment forum, the investors will see which areas they can enter like ICT (information communication technology), BPOs (business process outsourcing), food processing, logistics (and even) waste to energy and renewable energy…(through the Local Investments and Incentives Board), we can introduce (more incentives),” Asuncion said. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)