A Php 65-million septage processing plant will soon rise at Barangay Rosary Heights 10 in Cotabato City.
The project, described as “self-liquidating” to the benefit of parties spending for its establishment, is a joint endeavor of the city government and Metro Cotabato Water District with the United States Agency for International Development providing technical assistance.
Elias Salazar, USAID provincial coordinator for water security under the Be Secure Project, said on Tuesday that both city government and MCWD would share on a 50-50 counterpart to fund the project.
The Development Bank of the Philippines has offered its assistance on the bidding aspect of the venture.
The project that had its groundbreaking ceremony held Monday afternoon at the old city dumpsite at Rosary Heights 10 village would be fully mechanized to service the MCWD’s 31, 347 concessionaires under a 22 cubic meter septage processing capacity.
“All it takes is 30 minutes to have the full (septage) process finished,” Engr. Crisanto Saavedra, city general services office chief, said.
As easily as September this year, Mayor Frances Cynthia Guiani – Sayadi has announced the passage of the city’s septage ordinance leading to the establishment of the septage treatment facility.
“The city government wants nothing but to see our constituents live a convenient and comfortable life,” the mayor said.
Cecilia Camello-Barroga, a former city vice mayor and member of the MCWD board of directors, said the realization of the septage facility project is very timely considering that the city is fast becoming a bustling urban center in Central Mindanao with the mushrooming of mall chains in the locality over the past six years.
“Remember that what we do to our environment (when it comes to wastes), we take back,” she stressed.
Salazar said in recent months, Guiani–Sayadi and several other mayors have seen the importance of addressing some of the major gaps in the country’s water and sanitation services that includes the collection, treatment and discharge of sewage waste.
He said that with USAID’s Be Secure assistance, the cities of Ormoc and Cagayan de Oro also have successfully passed their respective septage ordinances while Zamboanga City is studying the process of building a treatment plant for its old sewage facility built in the 1930s.
Tacloban City has built the first citywide treatment plant in the Eastern Visayas region that has a visitors’ center which serves as holding area for brief orientations on what the facility can do.
Isabela City in Basilan is also set to launch its septage treatment facility this month and begin operations on March 2017.
“The close collaboration between LGUs and water districts, with support from USAID, aims to help prevent or bring down the rates of water-borne diseases and boost the economy by providing proper water and sanitation services to Filipinos,” Salazar said. (PNA)
