BAGUIO CITY December 26 – The Cordillera office of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-CAR) commended the local government for the simultaneous implementation of various programs and projects geared towards effectively and efficiently addressing the issues on water quality of a number of river systems and its existing 32-year old sewerage treatment plant purposely aimed at improving the water quality in the bodies of water emanating from the different parts of the city.
EMB-CR regional director Reynaldo S. Digamo said that one of the important interventions having been put in place by the local government is the proposed 5-year rehabilitation and upgrading of the city’s sewerage treatment plant located in North Sanitary Camp to increase its carrying capacity from its current treatment capacity of 8,600 cubic meters to over 24,000 cubic meters of waste water daily after the prescribed period.
Currently, the Baguio sewerage treatment plant is reportedly overloaded after being infused some over 12,000 cubic meters of waste water from the existing sewerage connections daily compared to its absorptive capacity of at least 8,600 cubic meters of waste water daily.
Based on the compliance action plan submitted by the local government to the EMB-CAR, the local government will spend a total of P336 million purposely to rehabilitate and upgrade its main sewerage treatment facility aside from putting in place short-term interventions that will help in treating the waste water being fed to the plant and comply with the water quality standards of the water being discharged to the Balili river.
The EMB-CAR official also commended the local government’s plan to put up a separate sewerage treatment plant within the vicinity of the city’s abattoir to treat the waste water being generated by the facility and the public market before being discharged to the Balili river considering that the existing sewerage treatment plant in North Sanitary Camp is not actually capable of treating the waste water from said two major facilities.
Digamo claimed that the local government’s plan to put up a sewerage treatment plant within the City Camp area will definitely contribute in significantly reducing the direct connection being done by residents of their waste water to existing bodies of water that serve as tributaries to major river systems.
He claimed the aggressive implementation of programs and projects of the Balili River Revitalization Coalition is also a giant step towards empowering residents to police their own ranks and allow their waste water discharge to pass through the required septic tanks that connect to the existing sewerage treatment plant and not to discriminately discharge the same to existing bodies of water within their communities.
Digamo reiterated his earlier recommendations to the local government for the City Building Official not to issue building permits for houses that will not have septic tanks or sewerage treatment plants. **By Dexter A. see