Mardy has long been selling socks and other clothes at the Baguio City Public Market.
She says her business is doing well except for her location, which is right in front of a drainage canal.
But since she has been there for a long time, she has gotten used to the foul smell.
“It smells bad sometimes, which is unavoidable because it’s a canal. I’ve kind of gotten immune to it,” said Mardy Loñes, a vendor.
These are just some of the drainage canals in Baguio City Public Market, which sometimes get clogged, and some of them are leaking.
The City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO) admits that the city’s drainage system has long been neglected.
That’s why it’s time to fix the entire drainage system of the city.
This is part of the total rehabilitation plan for the city’s sewerage system.
“We are identifying priority areas for the rehabilitation of sewer lines,” said Attorney Rhenan Diwas, Department Head of CEPMO.
The plan also includes upgrading the sewage treatment plant in Barangay North Sanitary Camp, which was built back in 1986.
As of now, the plant handles up to 10,000 cubic meters of wastewater from houses and establishments in the city daily.
The plan also includes building septage facilities so that residents will no longer dump the contents of their septic tanks into the drainage system.
The city government already has a septage facility, but it can only handle up to 25 cubic meters.
These projects cost 2.9 billion pesos and have been submitted to the city council for approval.
To fund this, the city government will borrow money, with the help of Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), from the Asian Development Bank.
Initially, the loan was pegged at 62.4 million US dollars, but it was later reduced to 50 million US dollars or 2.9 billion pesos.
This is part of the Baguio Resilient City Tourism Project.
City Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda, chair of the Committee on Health and Sanitation, Ecology, and Environmental Protection, supports the project.
However, she does not agree with the large amount the city government plans to borrow.
She suggests that the city government only borrow the funds for the construction of infrastructure, while the city handles the operational costs of the projects.
In this way, the city government won’t struggle with long-term interest payments.
The city council will carefully study whether to proceed with this plan.
**CHARLES NIKKO LIMON