Marcos highway growth node offered to proponents
BAGUIO CITY April 14 – The city will offer to prospective public-private partners and proponents the Marcos highway growth node that will lead to the development of the 10.2-hectare portion of the Baguio Dairy Farm ceded to the local government by the agriculture department to host its high impact development projects.
City Planning and Development Officer Arch. Donna R. Tabangin stated that the site development plan earlier prepared for the property was provided to one of the proponents of the proposed integrated terminal for the possible revision of the plans they initially submitted to support its proposal.
She informed members of the city’s management committee that proponents for the implementation of the development of the property have signified their intention to adhere to the site development plan of the city to accommodate the major development projects of the city that is in consonance with the present administration’s collective agenda.
Earlier, the local government envisioned this 10-2-hectare property to host the proposed modern abattoir, the existing waste transfer station, and the integrated terminal for south-bound public utility vehicles (PUVs).
Aside from these three major development projects in the area, city officials expect the proponents to construct the road networks leading to the areas where the facilities are situated and the buffer forests that will segregate the opposing ventures in the area.
Tabangin pointed out that the proposed buffer forests between the waste transfer station and the proposed modern abattoir, between the waste transfer station and the integrated terminal and between the abattoir and integrated terminal, are geared towards serving as an added attraction in the area and to strike a balance among the opposing ventures in the growth node.
Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong tasked the City Planning and Development Office to prepare the comprehensive master development for the aforesaid property to ensure it can accommodate the proposed big-ticket projects of the city which will be implemented through the public-private partnership scheme.
Initially, the agriculture department ceded to the local government some 8.1-hectare portion of the Baguio Dairy Farm during the term of former Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan where some 5,000 square meters were immediately used to host the city’s temporary waste transfer station but the area was expanded to some 10.2 hectares upon the representation of Mayor Magalong with Agriculture Secretary William Dar.
The agriculture department administers and supervises the 92-hectare Baguio Dairy Farm that hosts the various facilities of the agency focused on the promotion of the agriculture industry not only in the city but also in the whole Cordillera.
The city is also considering a portion of the ceded property as a possible site for its waste to energy project that will eventually address the existing garbage disposal woes of the local government to save on the excessive cost in the hauling of the city’s residual waste outside the city. By Dexter A. See
