BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan underscored that the proposal of a private group to put a dinosaur theme park within a portion of Burnham Park that will serve as an added attraction in the city’s premier tourist destination remains as a mere proposal which will be the subject of a series of consultations with concerned stakeholders.
The local chief executive admitted having received a proposal to put up a dinasour theme park below the Lions Club area and that the project will maximize the use of the trees to avoid destructing the state of the environment in the said place.
“The project will still undergo the required process of consulting the public on the matter similar to what had happened to other similar projects in the past, especially that the theme park will be established in a property owned by the government,” Domogan stressed.
He referred the proposal to the concerned offices of the local government for study and evaluation and to schedule the required consultations with the public to get the consensus of the residents on the proposal to put up a dinasour theme park within a portion of the Burnham Park.
The 34-hectare Burnham Park complex is owned by the national government, particularly titled in the name of the Department of Tourism (DOT), but its management, operation and administration was conveyed to the local government by virtue of Executive Order No. 224, series of 1995 and Executive Order No. 695, series of 2009.
Domogan urged the concerned stakeholders to actively participate in the consultations to be scheduled regarding the proposal for the local government to be able to get the real sentiment of the people on the planned development that will be introduced in the park.
He claimed that the local government is heavily subsidizing the management, operation and administration of Burnham Park after the national government decided to remove the annual subsidy that it had been granting to sustain the state of the park.
According to him, the existing concessionaires in the park and the rentals generated for the use of certain portions of the p[ark produce only around P18 million annually while the budgetary requirement for the park is around P40 to P45 million annually with the least infrastructure development, thus, it only shows that the balance is solely being shouldered by the city from its other sources of revenues.
Under the previous issuances, all income derived from the operation, administration and management of Burnham Park shall be deposited in a trust fund to be administered by the local government and shall be used for the upkeep and development of the park’s facilities.
He pointed out that the proposal will also be evaluated by the city’s Parks Management Committee composed of experts from both the government and the private sector before the same will be presented to the public during the various consultations that will be scheduled for the purpose because the inputs from other sectors is important to guide local officials in coming out with a decision on the matter.
The proposed theme park will be the first one that will be established in partnership with the private sector which will be located right at the heart of the city.
By Dexter A. See