LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The municipality was chosen by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to be the recipient of a technical assistance from the international financial institution for the development of policy actions and technological solutions for air quality management.
ADB officials and technical personnel paid a courtesy call to Mayor Romeo K. Salda to inform him that La Trinidad was the only local government in Southeast Asia that will be a recipient of the said technical assistance that will pave the way in improving the air quality management in the municipality.
Based on the project brief, the ADB;s technical assistance will help the local government build the business case through the preparation of the city or municipal level clean air action plans along with investment plans to implement the same.
The technical assistance was designed based on the request of developing member countries and included in the environment thematic groups mitigating annual work program.
“We are elated that La Trinidad is the only municipality in Southeast Asia to be a recipient of the technical assistance so that the local government will be able to craft the appropriate policies in air quality management considering the need to improve the air quality, especially in the heart of the municipality,” Mayor Salda stressed.
ABD technical personnel will be conducting a seminar-workshop to some technical personnel of the local government to guide them on how to effectively and efficiently implement the program apart from training them on how to operate the units of air quality monitoring equipment that will be installed in strategic areas in the municipality for data gathering purposes.
Earlier, the ADB also selected La Trinidad as one of the very few local governments in the country that was supposed to be given a grant for its solid waste management project in barangay Alno but the international financial institution suddenly changed its priorities that caused the local government’s multi-billion project to be shelved.
According to him, the local government will be awaiting the terms and conditions of the ADB on the provision of the technical assistance for the town’s air quality management so that the same will be assessed an evaluated to help the municipality craft the appropriate strategies on how to sustain the improvement of air quality, especially along Km. 5 up to the Provincial Capitol area which had been previously identified by the Cordillera office of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-CAR) as having fair air quality.
Several state-of-the-art air quality mentoring machines had been installed in the different parts of the municipality to record on a 24-hour basis the air quality prevalent in the municipality to guide policy makers and decision makers in the crafting and formulation of programs, projects and activities geared towards improving air quality in the locality.
Salda expressed his gratitude to the ABD for selecting La Trinidad as the only local government in Southeast Asia that will be a recipient of the financial assistance and that the municipal government will do its best to comply with whatever will be the prescribed terms and conditions that will help in improving the air quality in the municipality for the benefit of the present and future generations of inhabitants.
By HENT
