The City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO) is currently implementing some four sewer line projects in the different parts of the city that is aimed at improving the existing sewer lines and providing opportunities for households to be connected to the city’s main sewerage system.
CEPM Officer lawyer Rhenan Diwas disclosed that the P20 million sewer line project from the Baguio sewerage treatment plant (STP) to Lopez Jaena will still be bidded out by the local government while the P6 million sewer line project from Lopez Jaena to San Antonio is ongoing implementation.
Further, he added that the other sewer line projects that are ongoing implementation are the Salud Mitra and Magsaysay projects that are expected to be completed the soonest.
Diwas claimed that the implementation of the ongoing sewer line projects is pursuant to a resolution from the local legislative body and the marching orders of Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong for the CEPMO to prioritize the prosecution of the priority sewer line projects to improve the current sewer line system and provide adequate opportunities for households to be connected to the said system for the proper disposal of their waste water.
According to him, some 10 sewer line projects in various parts of the city which were funded from last year and this year’s budget of the local government were already completed while the 4 remaining sewer line projects are now the priority works being administered and supervised by the CEPMO to help in the proper disposal of waste water from the households in the various city barangays.
The city environment and parks management officer stipulated that the local government will continue to implement the prioritized sewer line projects in strategic areas in the city while awaiting the funding support that will be provided by concerned government agencies and other local and international funding institutions for the implementation of the proposed rehabilitation and upgrading of the city’s sewerage system project.
Earlier, city officials have been negotiating with concerned government agencies for the acquisition of a hefty loan from prestigious international funding institutions for the provision of the required funds for the realization of the proposed rehabilitation and upgrading of the city’s sewerage system to ensure that the waste water being discharged to the major river systems will not be contaminated.
From the previous $100 million that was supposed to be loaded by the local government through the environment department, Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong announced that the amount that will be loaned will be approximately $60 million where the scheme that will be adopted will be for the State-owned Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) to obtain the loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in behalf of the city and it will be the local government that will be paying to TIEZA the said loan for a reasonable period pursuant to a contract that will be signed for the purpose.
The Baguio sewerage treatment plant was built in the 1980s and that it is already operating beyond its prescribed capacity, thus, the need for its rehabilitation and upgrading to increase its capacity and ensure more connections from the households. By Dexter A. See
