Twenty-one houses at Barangay Lower Rock Quarry might be demolished if the city government pursues construction of another sewerage treatment plant at the area.
In the March 2 session of the city council, former Lower Rocky Quarry punong barangay and at present Kagawad Carlos Ananayo, representing the affected residents requested city officials to approve their proposed measurement of the site where the STP will be built in a bid to save 21 structures from demolition.
The proposed site, which measures 1.1 hectares based on the survey of the City Planning and Development Office was classified in 2016 by the City Land Identification Committee as “for city land needs.” There were only seven structures at the site at the time. Four years later, there are now 21 structures at the area.
To save the houses, the affected residents proposed that the STP be built on an area measuring 7,470 square meters only, instead of the one-hectare ideal measurement within which to build a STP.
Planning and Development Officer Evelyn Cayat said houses continued to mushroom at the site despite efforts of the city government to inform them of the site’s classification as future site of an additional STP.
Ananayo countered, the 21 structures were already at the proposed STP site even before the 2016 survey of the City Land Needs Identification Committee.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who was also invited in the council’s session assured he will consult the residents before construction commences. He said nothing is final yet regarding the STP’s total land requirement as he has yet to get the inputs of a team from the Asian Development Bank who, in 2019, said they will give technical assistance for the rehabilitation of the STP at South Sanitary Camp.
Meanwhile, City Buildings and Architecture Office OIC Johnny Degay informed the city council that to prevent further intrusion into the proposed STP site, the CBAO will start fencing the area. – Jordan G. Habbiling
April 26, 2024
