Troubleshooting the city

The administration of former Dagupan Mayor Benjamin Lim has left a long trail of flawed ventures.

The Malimgas Market, which is pretty much an imposing edifice at the heart of the city center, continues to bleed out money from the local coffers in the form of operational subsidy.

The former site of the Magsaysay Park, dealt under a build-operate-term scheme to be developed into a tourism complex, has brought the city government into a standing court lawsuit with MetroState Development Corp., the private group contracted for the project. And there now stands the structure for the foundation of the building, exposed to the elements, facing the city hall and an uncertain future.

Then there is the still unexplained overpriced street lights. The dredging machine. The scrap steel bars and trusses from the burnt Bugnay Market. And now the Awai land deal has come to the fore.

The administration of Alipio Fernandez Jr., by its self-imposed mandate, has got a lot of work cut out for it troubleshooting the damages left behind by its predecessor.

That means a lot of resources in terms of manpower and man hours, which, by default, translates to losses in terms of the potential development work that could have instead been undertaken.

But the Fernandez administration could not afford to simply turn its back and say what’s done is done. If it sincerely intends to move forward and implement significant reforms and improvements in the city, it must first clean up the outstanding mess.

In doing so, it must muster all its political will to not just scratch the surface of the matters at hand but go all the way and seek prosecution of those liable.

Dagupan is crying out not just for physical and economic progress, but also for true reforms in governance.

We have seen hope at the national level, through the guilty conviction slapped on former President Joseph Estrada for plunder charges, that now, at this point in our history, could be the beginning of the end of entrenched corruption in our system of government.

The Fernandez administration could do its part by being reform-oriented and demonstrate to future stewards of political power how to do battle with the tentacles of corruption, and win!

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