BAGUIO CITY – The local government is setting its sights on a 5-hectare property out of the 8.5-hectare land in Pinsao proper as the site for the city’s priority development projects that will help in improving the state of the environment and solid waste disposal problems.
Earlier, the local government was able to identify an 8.5-hectare property in Pinsao Proper fir city needs and that the city is now processing the appropriate documentation of the said land.
Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong said that he was able to talk to the claimant of the property and informed him that the local government will only be using the 5 hectares of the land for its priority development projects while the 3.5 hectares will remain with the claimant.
The city’s priority development projects that will be established in the property will be the bio-mass waste to energy plant, the residual waste to energy plant and the relocation of the slaughterhouse.
Based on initial projections from concerned offices of the local government, the City Veterinary Office needs at least 1 hectare for the relocation of the city’s abattoir from the slaughterhouse compound to the said area and some 4 hectares for the Japan-based waste to energy plant and the proposed residual waste to energy plant.
One of the 15-point collective agenda of the present administration is a revitalized environment through the implementation of strategic projects that will be geared towards effectively and efficiently addressing the city’s solid waste management problems, improvement of the city’s sewerage system and regreening the city.
The city’s Japan-based waste to energy project will be implemented through a government to government transaction with the assistance of the energy department and the State-owned Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC).
Previously, the local government identified a portion of the property within the Baguio Dairy Farm that was ceded to the city by the agriculture department as the site for the proposed Japan-based waste to energy project but based n the conduct of ocular inspections, there were some technical issues that cropped up that compelled to the city to look for other possible sites where to put up the facility which will be feasible for such kind of facility.
The proposed put up of the bio-mass and residual waste to energy plants will help the local government address the current solid waste management woes that it is currently experiencing considering that it is still hauling the generated residual waste outside the city which is eating a huge chunk of its annual budget.
Under the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, local governments are mandated to close the operation of their open dumpsites and work out the establishment of controlled dump facilities and engineered sanitary landfills to ensure the preservation of the state of the environment and the health of the people living within their areas of jurisdiction.
However, numerous local governments, including Baguio city, were not able to comply with the said mandate because of the insufficient land area available for the put up of the proposed facilities that will be able to address the solid waste problems of the said localities.
By Dexter A. See
