The city government is asking barangay officials to submit a list or inventory of spaces and areas in their respective areas that can be developed into “green zones” in line with efforts to revitalize the Summer Capital’s environment.
The areas to be declared must not be a private property and may or may not be presently devoted to public use like parks and playgrounds, mini or roadside gardens, sidewalks, rotundas, barangay roads, lands identified for barangay use, barangay or multipurpose halls, protected waterways or tributaries, forest reservations, and protected watersheds.
Other areas that can be identified as green zones are public lands donated to the city or barangay on which no development has been done, those owned by the national government on which no development has yet been done, and public lands owned by the national government where structures have already been put up.
Community Affairs Officer III Briccio Domondon of the City Mayor’s Office Special Services Division said barangay officials are requested not to limit their submission to only one area or space but several sites for later evaluation and determination whether these have the potential to be established as green zones within their respective barangays.
He said if the project is successful, “the city envisions an environment that is protected and maintained by stakeholders in every barangay as co-managers and environmental stewards.”
Submission of the list or inventory should not be later than Nov. 30. – Gaby B. Keith
