BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved a resolution urging the City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO) to prioritize the completion of all sewer projects being implemented in the different parts of the city in time for the rainy season.
The resolution authored by all members of the city legislative body states that the city annually experiences a high degree of rainfall compared to other areas in the country, thus, the sewer projects in the city may be considered as critical since they cater not only to the protection of the life and health of the city’s constituents but also to their convenience which warrants the immediate completion of the same before the onset of the rainy season as it will be vital for the well-being of the city as a whole.
The resolution added that part of the sectors that could resume their activities is the construction industry after the lapse of the extended Luzonwide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and if the status of the city could be downgraded to the general community quarantine (GCQ).
Based on the data obtained from the CEPMO, the city government pinpointed to more than a dozen critical projects that must be immediately stabilized before the onset of the rainy season to prevent the same from posing danger to life and limb.
The resolution notes that the CEPMO is in charge of the city’s sewer lines and the various projects being undertaken for the maintenance, rehabilitation, improvement and upgrading of the same, thus, the need for the said office to mobilize the contractors to fastrack the completion of existing works to prevent any untoward incidence that poses a threat to the public, especially during the occurrence of rains.
Section 17 of Republic Act (RA) 7160 or the Local Government Code of the Philippines provides that local government units shall endeavor to be self-reliant and shall continue exercising the powers and discharging the duties and functions currently vested upon them and that the same shall also discharge the functions and responsibilities as are necessary, appropriate and incidental to efficient and effective provisions of the basic services and facilities enumerated under existing laws, rules and regulations.
Part of the priority projects of the present administration is significantly improve the capacity of the exiting Baguio sewerage treatment plant and facilitate the connection of more business establishments and houses to the city’s main sewer system to help in clearing the city’s waterways from pollutants that emanate from the households and businesses that are not connected with the said plant.
Further, the city government also plants to put up additional sewerage treatment plants in major river systems located in the city to allow households and business establishments in the said areas to be directly connected to the proposed sewerage treatment plants to prevent households and commercial businesses from discharging their waste water to the river systems located near the said structures.
By Dexter A. See
