Baguio’s 5-point development plan

EDITORIAL

Even with elections just around the corner, city officials are saying the city government will embark on a 5-point development thrust next year to sustain what officials called robust growth it achieved the past several years to make the summer capital a premier trade, economic, tourism and commercial center north of Manila.

Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan reported one of the major development projects to be prioritized by the local government next year is the development of the 139-hectare city-owned Sto. Tomas multi-use land to accommodate a city jail, socialized housing and extension of the already overcrowded Baguio cemetery.

The local government, he added, is also inclined in pursuing the development of a portion of the city-owned property in Sto. Tomas or the Antamok open pit for the establishment of the city’s proposed integrated solid waste facility or the put up of an engineered sanitary landfill and environmentally-acceptable technologies to put an end to the garbage disposal woes of the city besetting the city for over a decade now.

Earlier, the local government acquired a huge portion of the property through a deed of donation from the de Guia family that allowed the area to expand to 139 hectares which could be maximized for public use.

In terms of liquid waste, Domogan claimed the local government will focus on the implementation of the appropriate mechanisms for proper liquid waste management, particularly the upgrading of the existing Baguio sewerage treatment plant located in South Sanitary Camp, construction of  a sewage treatment facility at Lower Rock Quarry, among other initiatives, to reduce the volume of untreated waste water being directly discharged to major river systems further polluting water systems like rivers.

According to him, concerned government agencies and the local government will provide innovative and sustainable traffic and road management services, specifically formulation of a comprehensive traffic and transportation management plan, construction of a multi-level parking facility at Kayang Street, particularly in Camp Henry T. Allen barangay compliant with the provisions of the National Building Code and the city’s existing zoning ordinance among others.

Domogan cited the need for an organization and management study, such as organizational set up and management systems, and barangay rationalization for efficient delivery of basic services to the people in the city’s 128 barangays.

Initially, the Association of Barangay Councils started consultations among the city’s barangay officials to ascertain acceptability of the proposed merger of barangays to be able to achieve a reasonable number of barangays to allow proper delivery of services.

Domogan remains optimistic the proposal for merger of the city’s barangays will be realized the soonest to improve status of the city’s barangays and delivery of services by barangay officials.

The city is busting at the seams with what social scientists call over- development.  The creation of a master development plan has not yet been addressed.

They say issues are being addressed as they crop up. There is no futuristic planning to address issues more efficiently, they say. Quo vadiz, Baguio?