CBAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan said the city government welcomes the contribution of the private sector, particularly peoples organizations and civil society, in order to sustain the city’s economic growth without compromising the state of its environment and its land use.
Domogan made the statement in response to the recent conduct of a peoples’ summit by multi-sectoral groups who have been critical on the city’s pace of development which have resulted to the so-called urban decay.
“We welcome the recommendations of the private sector on the implementation of our programs and projects. We want them to be our partners in charting the city’s growth. If they do not want to pass to us their recommendations and resolutions for our perusal and review, then that is purely politics,” Domogan stressed.
He explained that are numerous factors to consider on the way the city government is administering its affairs because of the existence of interventions from outside forces like national government agencies among others.
In the case of the city’s deteriorating land use, Domogan cited what is contributing to over congestions in the city is the subdivision of townsites applications that are more than 200 square meters into several lots which contribute to the increased density in the city’s barangays.
He said his stand against the subdivision of townsite sales applications that are more than 200 square meters was already brought to the attention of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) but it seems it has not been given due course.
With regard the deteriorating state of the city’s forest from 42 percent in 1988 to only 15 percent at present, Domogan explained the city government has embarked on a massive reforestation campaign over the past several years in order to reforest barren areas in lieu of declared housing sites by the national government such as in the case of the Carabao mountain or the Quirino Hill area in the 1960s.
He directed the over 500,000 seedlings to be planted by SM City Baguio as its compensatory requirements for the trees that it will cut for its expansion project will be planted in the city’s boundary with Tuba, Itogon and La Trinidad, particularly in watershed areas in order to help increase the city’s forest cover within its boundaries.
In the city’s solid waste management concerns, the local chief executive said the disposal of garbage is the responsibility of every resident who must abide by the simple segregation of waste at source but to date, there are still numerous barangays which are being warned by the city general services on their failure to comply with the segregation of their generated waste.
Domogan said if the cause-oriented groups, peoples’ organizations, religious sector among others want to provide inputs on the programs and projects of the city, their representatives must be willing to dialogue with concerned city officials and must be willing to accept the prevailing situations in order to ensure a harmonious working relationship between the government and private sector.
However, he declared the reasons of some sectors that their recommendations are not being considered is just an alibi on their part and that they are obviously politicking in such case as they want to simply use the issues to criticize the current administration. By Dexter A. See
