Finally ready?

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor CEDELF P. TUPAS Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

The P5.6 billion Bacolod-Silay Airport, the one that has been sitting unused for the last few months because of the lack of a road network connecting it to the people it is supposed to serve, is finally set to open on January 18. This is after the rushed construction of an access road, a vital component in the proper operation of any transportation hub, but in the case of this particular airport, a component that seemed to have been built only as an afterthought.

Within the next few weeks, if everything in the new airport goes right, we will be able to experience the conveniences and advantages of a world-class airport. Modern passenger handling equipment will allow passengers to enter and exit the airplanes without having to worry about the weather, as well as make life easier for the elderly and persons with disabilities since they do not have to climb up stairs anymore. Baggage handling should be a giant leap forward, especially when compared to the current manual system of claiming bags in one existing terminal.

What Negrenses are bracing themselves for is the one glaring disadvantage of the new airport, which is its distance from the capital city. All these modern amenities and conveniences do not make up for the fact that the new airport is 20 kms away, with the only access road to this modern facility only two lanes wide, without adequate lighting, and passes through three major cemeteries.

We hope that the government officials involved in the new airport project do not consider their job done after the first plane has landed and the ribbon has been cut. First and foremost, more alternative roads have to be built. The existing access road has to be widened and provided with streetlights. Aside from the road network, there has to be cheap and readily available transportation to and from the new airport. If they can't do those things and do it soon, we may have wasted our taxpayers money on a white elephant and be better off with the old airport.*