|
Business
establishments and residences tapping to the city drainage
system will not be penalized as mandated by a city ordinance
but will be made to shoulder the costs of setting up a waste
water treatment facility.
This
was the statement made by City Mayor Dan Lim yesterday as
he accepted the challenge hurled against him regarding the
drainage problem.
The
mayor assured the waste water treatment plant will be in place
in the next three months.
Putting
up a water treatment facility does not just involve construction
works but a thorough and scientific study of the project's
cost and return on investment, Lim said.
|
|
|
The
mayor said he will implement the "polluters' pay
principle" where those who are illegally tapping
to the drainage will shoulder the cost and maintenance
of the waste water treatment plant through a tariff
system.
He
did not say how much the "polluters' fee"
will be.
The
statement of the city mayor came amid mounting clamor
for the immediate construction of the waste water treatment
facility which the city chief executive has been assuring
as early as December 2006. However, no concrete plans
have been bared until this time when floodings are already
noted in some areas.
|
'CHALLENGE
NOT HIS ALONE'
Lim
said during his "Mayor's Report" yesterday that
the challenge to address the drainage and pollution problem
is not his alone to face.
"We
can rush things just to satisfy those who are impatient. But
if we do that, it is like we have given a curse to generations
coming after us," he warned.
The
mayor disputed the charge against him on the drainage problem
saying that if there is anybody who is concerned about the
city's drainage system, it is him.
"If
you will recall, when I assumed office in 2004, we strongly
insisted that the drainage component be included in the CPG
road concreting project," the mayor recalled.
He
said that at the time, he was like a voice in the wilderness
in the midst of the majority who were impatient to have the
project implemented immediately even if in doing so many problems
will surface later on.
The
mayor said that due to his insistence, the Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH) to include the drainage component
even though this was not in the original plan.
"Because
of that, we are grateful that our people are assured of the
correct design needed for the city in the next 20 years,"
he said.
|
