BAGUIO CITY – The City Government will utilize the P70 million earmarked for the construction of the access road to the city-owned 139-hectare property in the Sto. Tomas School area to build interconnecting interior roads beneficial to the residents in the area to show the commitment of the local government that no one will be cheated once the identified projects in the property will be pursued.
Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan said the local government needs at least P170 million to construct the access and interior roads within the property as part of the city’s integrated solid waste disposal facility but the local government was only able to allot P70 million for such purpose, thus, the priority should now be on the construction of the interconnecting interior roads within the property.
“The local government will continue to be transparent on the projects that will be undertaken in the city-owned property to send a clear message to the area residents that the city does not intend to cheat them once they present conclusive proofs of ownership to their properties in the area which the city will in turn recognize. If the residents do not possess pertinent documents to show ownership of the lands that they occupy, then they must already submit to the city their proposals which will be the subject of consultations in the future,” Domogan stressed.
He said the concerned offices have been ordered to prepare the master development plan for the whole city-owned property that includes socialized housing, expansion of the public cemetery and the city jail, among others, aside from the possibility of serving as the permanent site of the city’s integrated solid waste disposal facility once the proposed site in Antamok in nearby Itogon town will not materialize.
According to him, it is the obligation of the city to build access and interior roads within the property that will open up opportunities for future developments .
Landowners were given until October 24, 2016, to submit their proofs of ownership to the properties that they currently occupy or their proposals to the local government relative to the lands that they currently occupy within the city-owned property.
The local government was initially able to identify a 50-hectare area within its property as a potential site for its integrated solid waste disposal facility with the following components: a centralized materials recovery facility, anaerobic digester, engineered sanitary landfill, waste-to-energy plant, Environmental Recycling System (ERS) machines, medical waste treatment plant and special waste treatment plant.
By Dexter A. See