BAGUIO CITY – The local government is willing to offer three of the city-owned properties for private-public partnership (PPP) to maximize their potentials of generating additional resources for the city and providing an added attraction for residents and tourists.
Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan revealed that the city-owned properties which could be offered for PPP include the old site of the city auditorium towards the tennis court in Burnham Park, the Diplomat Hotel property which was ceded to the local government by the office of the President and the Asin swimming pool and hot spring resort in Nangalisan, Tuba, Benguet.
“We are proud to announce that the local government never acquired a loan and has no outstanding loan to date because we banked on the judicious use of available resources to achieve the state of development that is now being enjoyed by the residents and visitors. We do not want to tie up our available resources just to be able to acquire a loan but what we need is for the aggressive implementation of the PPP,” Domogan stressed.
In the site of the old auditorium, Domogan is proposing the put up of a multi-level pay parking structure to help address the city’s parking woes aside from utilizing the said structure for green building purposes that can accommodate certain recreational establishments at the top.
For the historic Diplomat Hotel, he reported the development that can be undertaken will have to be done pursuant to the deed of conveyance signed by the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) to the city government so that the area will be fully developed as a retreat and recreation center providing visitors with added attractions they can see while enjoying their well-deserved break in the city.
According to him, the city-owned Asin swimming pools and hot spring resort must be developed to be at par with the existing resorts in the area and to maximize its potentials in attracting tourists visiting the place.
He revealed there are already two proponents for the privatization of the Asin hot spring resort that is why the terms of reference for the said purpose is being finalized to be bid out to the interested proponents and only those offering the most advantageous arrangement to the local government will be considered.
For the Ganza parking area, Domogan explained he finds no reason to the arguments of some sectors that it is beyond the commerce of man when it has been used as a parking area for the longest period of time pursuant to the provisions of Executive Order (EO) No. 224, series of 1995 as amended wherein the local government is authorized to lease certain portions of the State-owned property to generate the needed income for the maintenance, operation and administration of the park.
He added the plan of the local government is to put up a multi-level parking structure in the area to accommodate more motor vehicles to address the growing need of parking spaces by the increasing number of motorists and not to destroy the area.
He appealed to critics of the multi-level parking proposal in Ganza to come out with their proposed alternatives on how to solve the parking problems of the city and not simply to criticize so that the local government will evaluate whether or not the proposed alternatives are feasible.
By Dexter A. See
