Mayor: Make Mines View Truly Mines View
VOL. XVIII, NO. 6(Nov. 15-21)
BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio Domogan wants Mines View Park to have a touch of the real mines so it can live up to its name and gain more appreciation.
The mayor last week managed to convince the Philippine Mining Safety and Environment Association (PMSEA) under president Louie Sarmiento to draft a master plan to develop the park into a mining sanctuary.
“We asked the PMSEA to come up with a plan to capture the true mining setting at the park and they gladly accepted,” the mayor told his Ugnayang Panlungsod media briefing.
He said the PMSEA through Sarmiento agreed to undertake the plan “at their own time and expense” with the involvement of the mining students of the universities in the city.
The mayor said they will consider building an underground tunnel, a repository of rocks and minerals with historical accounts on the mining industry in Baguio and Benguet.
He said Mines View Park’s development into a mining haven will not only attract more tourists but will also create more awareness on the industry which played a key role in the development of the city being the main source of livelihood in the early years.
The mayor said the city will use the plan as a blueprint in continuing the development of the park depending on the availability of funds.
At present, the city is undertaking the partial fencing of the park as the first phase of the rehabilitation work at the park.
Mines View in the past offered a panoramic view of the gold and copper mines of Benguet but over the years the sight has been replaced by residential houses.
The park was delisted by the Dept. of Tourism (DOT) after vendors mushroomed and turned it into an eyesore.
Last year, the city cleared the stalls and prohibited all business activities inside the park to give way to rehabilitation to restore the area as a promenade center and tourist destination.
Also last year, Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda proposed the construction of overground tunnels with a background of the city that “shall orient the visitors and make them experience the thrill of the mining experience, consistent with the Park being a Mines View Park.”
“This experience will make Mines View Park a unique and distinctive tourist destination,” she said in a proposed resolution.
The mayor said the PMSEA committed to complete the plan the soonest they can./A Refuerzo
