BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong ordered the concerned offices of the local government to fastrack the completion of the ongoing survey of the 8-hectare lot that was ceded by the agriculture department to the city to ensure the immediate implementation of the plans that will be contained in the comprehensive master development plan of the area.
The local chief executive claimed that the survey of the property that was acceded to the local government must be completed the soonest so that appropriate development in the area to hit the ground running in the property for the urgent needs of the city.
He said that one of the urgent projects that must be introduced in the property is the put up of the waste to energy demo unit which will be brought to the city by Japanese experts through the State-owned Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) and the Department of Energy (DOE) wherein a 1-hectare area is required for the said facility.
Further, some 5 hectares of the property is also needed for the establishment of the south-bound bus terminal to facilitate the relocation of south-bound buses to help lessen the congestions along Gov. Pack Road.
On the other hand, Magalong directed the concerned offices to also segregate some 3,000 square meters near the existing temporary waste transfer station that will serve as the relocation site of the recyclable material volunteers from the Irisan dumpsite and the junk show owners along Marcos highway so that there will be a centralized location for the said entrepreneurs.
According to him, another project that will established in the area is the tenement housing for informal settlers and other socialized housing beneficiaries considering that he was able to access funds from the National Housing Authority (NHA) for the said purpose.
Earlier, the agriculture department ceded to the local government over 8 hectares of its Baguio Dairy Farm Property through a deed of usufruct signed between former Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol and former Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan which will be primarily used for the urgent needs of the city.
Subsequently, the authority to survey was also issued by the agriculture department allowing the local government to conduct a survey of the ceded area as part of the preparation of the comprehensive master development plan of the area.
Initially, the city’s temporary waste transfer station occupies more or less 5,000 square meters of the ceded property which is now being developed into a model waste transfer station worthy of being replicated by other local governments.
Magalong also instructed the City Legal Office to study the appropriate move of the local government to clear the area of informal settlers so that the land area that was ceded to the city could be maximized for its priority needs.
The 92-hectare Baguio Dairy Farm is under the jurisdiction of the agriculture department which was supposed to serve as a breeding ground for cattle and for dairy production to ensure sufficient supply of dairy products in the city.
By Dexter A. See
