Mayor on market /Irisan dump issue

by Dexter See

BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan has answered issues on the market development plan of the city following barbs from critics.

On the proposed development of the city public market earlier questioned by several groups of market vendors, the mayor said it was aimed at cleansing the market from dubious transactions of purported leaders and their benefactors who had been sub-leasing their awarded stalls at very excessive rentals.

“We pity our detractors for resorting to blatant lies just to confuse our market vendors into believing that the city government allegedly sold the market to a private company,” Domogan said, adding it is clear in the contract signed by the local government with Uniwide will be a build, operate, least and transfer scheme for a period of 30 years.

            

After the 30-year lease period, he said the contract mandates that the developed market will be owned, managed and administered by the city government which is contrary to the misinformation being done by some of his detractors to mislead the vendors into believing their crusade to discredit the efforts of the city to remove the massive sub-leasing of stalls in the market.

            

Section 19 of the agreement provides that the city government shall guarantee the security of tenure of the leasehold awardees at the ground floor under the city government’s control and management within emphasis that the city government shall have the control, supervision and management of the ground floor of the man market building where the said leasehold awardees will be accommodated and for them to continue dealing with the city government.

            

According to the local chief executive, a census of all the legitimate and illegitimate vendors was already done by the city government and that all of the legitimate stallholders will have a place in the ground floor once the market development will push through while the illegal vendors will also have a place in the prescribed floor to be managed by the city.

            

It was learned that the ones opposing the proposed market development plan of the city government were individuals and leaders of market vendors who own more than one stall and are sub-leasing the same at excessive costs and taking advantage of the innocence of others relative to the sub-leasing issues.

            

Domogan said the market development plan will address the issue on sub-leasing because legitimate and illegitimate vendors will deal directly with the city government and that the fees to be imposed are much lower compared to the excessive rates being collected from them by the stallholders that were given awards by the local government.

            

The validity of the market development plan was already ruled upon by the Regional Trial court Branch 59 and affirmed by the Court of Appeals.

            

However, the disgruntled market leaders appealed the decision of the appellate court to the Supreme Court just to satisfy their personal requirements of gaining from the sub-leasing of their stalls at excessive prices for decades.

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On the Irisan dump issue, the Environment Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources reported the city government is complying with consent decree it entered with complainants before the court of Appeals for the closure of the Irisan dumpsite and its eventual rehabilitation and conversion into an ecotourism park.

            

In a memorandum submitted to the CA Special Sixth Division, Joyce Ann Almoite-Mangsat, Ecological Solid Waste Management coordinator, said closure and rehabilitation of the open dumpsite is part of the P80 million rehabilitation works currently implemented in the area.

            

Construction of the perimeter fence or retaining wall at the northeastern side of the dumpsite is ongoing and around 45 percent done with reference to the start of the project implementation on Jan. 14.

            

The monitoring team from the EMB-CAR and the Office of the Solicitor-General found out pouring of concrete is monolithic and that no weepers or similar devices were installed.

            

However, Donald Basing, project engineer of Goldrich Construction, explained to team members that perforated pipes were installed beneath the trash and will be installed at every level of the future.

            

At the southeastern portion, the team observed that the rehabilitation works has not yet started but dredging of the trash slide remains underway.

            

The team observed that a portion of the western perimeter fence has collapsed because of the soil covering activity which is part of the rehabilitation of the open dumpsite.

            

“Traces of the remains (wastes eroded from the open dumpsite) during the trash slide on August 27, 2011 could still be noticeable at the down slopes approaching Tuba, Benguet though some parts are already vegetated,” the report added.

            

Basing told the monitoring team that the dumping of dredged materials which is about 3,000 cubic meters from Bunham Lake is part of the rehabilitation program but the said approach was not stated in the scope of work in the restoration of the open dumpsite.

            

He said deviation was undertaken since they are the contractor for both the dredging at Burnham Lake and the open dumpsite restoration projects, thus, they thought of utilizing the dredged earth materials for soil covering at the open dumpsite.

            

The team recommended to the contractor to specify source of soil covering for the closure and rehabilitation of the open dumpsite or submit to the EMB-CAR and other concerned offices any amendments or deviation/s made on the engineering design or plan specifications.

            

It added the remaining trash that gushed down slopes towards Tuba, Benguet although already covered with vegetation should be cleared. To unburden the Irisan dumpsite, it was recommended that the city government immediately dispose or sell the stockpiled compost materials produced by the two Environmental Recycling System (ERS) machines.