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Closure
of drainage looms; water treatment in 9 months
By: KIT BAGAIPO
DE LA SERNA |
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Even
before the outfall of the city's drainage system can
be completed, the lot owner of the controversial project
has vowed to close it down if the city government will
not disconnect sewer connections coming from households
and business establishments.
The
statement was made by former OIC Gov. Victor dela Serna,
who owns the lot where the drainage outfall tunnel is
dug.
This
even as City Mayor Dan Lim declared a wastewater treatment
plant will be built in the area.
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As
recommended by the city's environmental consultant, Engr.
Cecil Corloncito, an equalization pond will also be constructed
while the multi-million water treatment facility is still
to be set up.
Corloncito,
an international consultant on environment, with clients in
the Middle East and Australia, said the water treatment facility
can be built in 9 months if the bidding process can be completed
in the next three months.
Dela
Serna, however, said that with the impending completion of
the drainage outfall connection along San Jose Street, the
project's contractor and the Department of Public Works and
Highways (DPWH) may allow the egress of wastewater into Tagbilaran
bay.
Dela
Serna bared that, in agreeing with the excavation on his property,
he explicitly required that the outfall will only allow surface
water and not commercial or household wastewater.
He
threatened to close down the excavation "if the agreement
is violated."
If
the outfall is not opened by the time the contractor has completed
the project, the city government will be under pressure to
allow the discharge of drainage water as flooding have been
experienced in low level areas of the city during heavy rains.
NO
BLAME ON BUSINESSES
Corloncito
said the public could not blame business establishments for
their connections to the city drainage system.
He
explained that the sewage and flooding problem have been existent
for a long time and the responsibility of addressing the situation
should be shared by the government, business sector and the
public.
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During
a briefing with the mayor and the Sanggunian, Corloncito
said he proposed the integrated wastewater management
system (IWMS).
His
basic recommendation was to establish a centralized
water treatment that could either be used before domestic
and industrial wastewater is discharged to the sea or
it can also be recycled.
The
project, he said, should be treated as an investment
adopting the "polluters pay principle" - providing
a tariff system where one pays for the volume of waste
being discharged into the drainage.
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Through
this scheme, each one is responsible for self regulation of
waste and preventing pollution, Corloncito explained, and
that it pays to have a clean environment.
"It
makes good business sense since nobody would want to invest
in a polluted place," he added.
This
will also encourage business establishments to construct their
own septic tanks to lessen charges on the volume of wastewater
being discharged, Corloncito said.
If
the city government could start the bidding process for the
construction of a wastewater treatment plant and award the
contract within the next three months, the flooding in the
city's low lying areas will be solved before the year ends.
ade
sure it is driven home.
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