BAGUIO CITY – The City Government is now finalizing the master plan for the 139-hectare city-owned property in Sto. Tomas Apugan to help in operationalizing the city’s various programs and projects to address problems caused by rapid urbanization.
Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan said based on the draft master plan that was presented to him, some 30 hectares will be segregated and used for the city’s integrated solid waste disposal facility once the planned put up of the Antamok engineered sanitary landfill will not succeed while some 7 hectares will be devoted for the city’s socialized housing program.
Further, included in the proposed master plan will be the proposed expansion of the city’s public cemetery, the extension of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), the internal road network, the inhabitants of some portions of the property among other purposes to accommodate more development projects of the local government.
Earlier, the city planned to segregate 50 hectares of the said property for the city’s integrated solid waste disposal facility that will include a centralized materials recovery facility, engineered sanitary landfill, anaerobic digester, waste-to-energy plant, the two Environmental Recycling System (ERS) machines, health care and hazardous waste treatment plant and a special waste plant but the mountainous terrain in the area compelled city planners to reduce the area to only 30 hectares.
“WE are keeping our fingers crossed that we will be able to put up our own integrated solid waste disposal facility either in Antamok or in Sto. Tomas in the next two years so that we will be saving around 70 million pesos for the hauling of waste outside the city which we could use to bankroll the funding of more development projects for the city in the future,” Domogan stressed.
The local chief executive also directed the concerned offices of the city to implement the initial P70 million programmed this year for the construction of the interior road network within the area in reparation for the realization of the property’s comprehensive master development plan.
Part of the city-owned property is the 95 hectares donated by the de Guia family which was bought from the heirs of Cariño that covers portions of the nearby Tuba municipality.
Domogan is still awaiting the proposals from the occupants of the property on how will the city treat their tax declarations and alleged claims over portions of the property.
He emphasized the local government will not cheat the residents to be affected by the various projects to be implemented within the different portions of the property, provided that, the residents must possess legitimate documents to support their claims over the portions of the property.
The affected residents assured the local chief executive that they will submit their detailed proposals for the assessment and evaluation of the city whether their proposals will be feasible to be given due course./By Dexter A. See#
