BAGUIO CITY – The Baguio City Council postponed the approval of the funding of two projects under the first supplemental budget for Fiscal Year 2024.
These two projects, whose funding was deferred during the regular session on April 29, 2024, include the proposed construction of a leachate treatment plant at Irisan Ecopark and the purchase of equipment for the upgraded transfer station operation at Dontogan Barangay.
During the council session, Councilor Peter Fianza questioned the necessity to build a leachate treatment plant worth P35 million at the former location of the decommissioned Irisan Dumpsite.
He said the dumpsite had become inactive due to the issuance of Temporary Protection Order (TPO) back in 2008, which led to the implementation of rehabilitation plans after the site’s closure.
He pointed out that over a decade had passed since the dumpsite had been ordered closed, thus possibly eliminating the environmental and health risks associated with leachate.
He said the guidelines for the closure of the dumpsite had even recommended repurposing the area for other viable initiatives beneficial to the city.
During the regular session on February 26, 2024, City Administrator Bonifacio dela Peña said the leachate had already permeated the site, thus the need to address the issue.
Dela Peña stressed that the project’s original intention was to install a septic tank.
However, the septic tank alone would not sufficiently address the issues arising from the aftermath of the dumpsite.
He said the current infrastructure, such as aeration pipes and retaining walls, lacks the capacity to adequately treat leachate.
The city council opted to defer the approval of the funding for this project following Fianza’s recommendation.
The city council also postponed the approval of the P56.8-million funding for the purchase of equipment for the proposed transfer station due to a clerical error in the documentation.
What was written in the document was “construction of the transfer station” when it should have been “purchase of equipment”, leading to the deferral of the funding request.
Likewise, the attachment to the requested amount in the Supplemental Annual Investment Plan, which was earlier approved by the city council, pertains to the construction of roads leading to the transfer station and a shed for staging and shredding activities.
It categorically states that the purchase of equipment is not included.
The city’s proposed upgraded transfer station will serve as a key component for the city’s waste management infrastructure designed to accommodate the efficient handling of waste materials.
The current facility at Dontogan Barangay is actually a sorting station where garbage is dumped and sorted by personnel.
It will be relocated to another area within the site once it is upgraded, and the area it currently occupies will be used for the construction of an intermodal terminal which is another project of the city government in the pipeline.
The proposed transfer station will house the city’s centralized Materials Recovery Facility (MRF).
General Services Officer Eugene Buyucan said the bidding for the site development of the proposed transfer station had already been completed.
He clarified that the funding for the construction of the facility in the amount of P30 million had already been approved by the city council in 2023 and that the 56.8-million funding currently being requested would be used to purchase the equipment for the MRF.
During the session, Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda expressed doubt that this requested fund for the purchase of equipment is needed for this year considering that the construction of the facility had not started yet, and that completing the structure appears unlikely within this year.
She said it would be impractical to acquire equipment for a building that has not yet been constructed, a point Buyucan disputed.
He believed this issue could be addressed while awaiting the building’s construction.
Tabanda further pointed out that the Commission on Audit had recently called out the city government for placing idle funds into time deposits beyond the limits.
These idle funds were likely the result of projects, programs, and activities that had not been implemented in previous years.
Tabanda expressed concern that purchasing equipment would lead to another unimplemented activity.
Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan urged the City Buildings and Architecture Office to promptly submit the project plan or program of work to the city council for thorough scrutiny before approving the requested budget for equipment.
Liga ng mga Barangay President Rocky Aliping stressed that the program of work should have been prepared in advance to accurately identify the costs of the project’s components.
On the other hand, projects and programs approved under Supplemental Budget 1 during the April 29 session are PAG-IBIG contributions (P2.5 million); Rehabilitation of Arboretum 1 and 2 – Third Phase (P5.5 million); placemaking in Barangays with Youth Leads (P2.57 million); and procurement of one unit 10-wheeler 12,000 liter fire truck of the Baguio Fire Station (P12 million).
Approved under Supplemental Budget during the April 22 session are the following:
- Feasibility study for the outsourcing of garbage collection from residence to transfer station (P1 million);
- Integration of GAD resiliency (P900,000.00);
- Smart garbage bins (P300,000.00);
- Peace and order and public safety innovations (P230,000.00);
- Development and improvement of lagoon underground drainage and surface water run-offs (P50 million);
- Construction of Pacdal multipurpose hall (P50 million);
- Youth Driven Solutions for Achieving the SDG through Voluntary Local Review (P1 million);
- Procurement and installation of heater for swimming pool at athletic bowl (P15 million);
- Reversion of fund from MOOE (RM building and other structures) to the general fund (P2.60 million);
- Re-appropriation of the same to capital outlay for the renovation of the former GSO; rehabilitation of Atok Trail health center (P2 million);
- Rehabilitation of Campo Filipino Health Center (P2 million);
- Rehabilitation of City Camp health center (P2 million);
- Rehabilitation of Quezon Hill health center (P2 million);
- Rehabilitation of Engineer’s Hill health center (P2 million);
- Construction of joint multipurpose hall of Trancoville and Alfonso Tabora Barangay and evacuation center of District 7 at South Sanitary Camp Barangay (P35 million);
- Construction of Dontogan multipurpose hall (P35 million); and
- Road recovery of Diego Silang Road towards Harrison Road and Harrison-Caranted Barangay (P10 million).
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