By Mae Singuay

Bacolod City plans to establish a new terminal for public utility vehicles (PUVs) plying in the southern part of Negros Island.

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said the city council proposed establishing a new public terminal in Barangay Sum-ag to decongest the city’s traffic situation in the south.

For now, Benitez said the city government is looking for a property of around seven hectares and it must be viable for the transportation operators in the said village.

He said the city is also open to a public-private-partnership scheme.

The proposed terminal will also include transport services and facilities, based on the operators’ request.

East-bound PUVs utilize the Bacolod South Terminal in Barangay 30’s Lopez Jaena Street.

However, several southbound PUVs use a portion of Libertad Market as their “waiting area,” as some east-bound PUVs also pick up passengers there.

PUVs plying in the southern portion include routes bound for Hinoba-an town and the cities of Sipalay, Kabankalan, La Carlota, and Bago City in Negros Occidental; and Canlaon City and Bayawan town in Negros Oriental.

The Sangguniang Panlungsod in 2019 approved the authority to sign in relation to the 8.8-hectare land donated by several transport companies for the South Public Terminal, Museum and Coliseum, including road networks in Barangay Alijis, based on City Ordinance No. 08-15-746, or the Guidelines for the Establishment of the New Southbound Transport Terminal.

“Damo man kita sang mahimo dira,” Benitez said, when asked by the members of the media what would happen to the donated lot in Barangay Alijis.

It learned that there is ongoing construction of the museum and coliseum on the said property./MS, WDJ