JICA to draft urban infrastructure plan to develop Davao City
DAVAO CITY — The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will put together an urban infrastructure development plan and capacity-building project for Davao City.
“This is a very unique approach that has not been implemented in other cities in the Philippines,” Ken Kumazawa, JICA project team leader said during a news conference immediately after yesterday’s meeting with the city government and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Davao region officials.
Mr. Kumazawa said the plan, which will support the infrastructure development plan and implementation of both the city and NEDA, is expected to ultimately improve the city’s competitiveness, safety from disasters and general urban conditions.
“The expected output is an urban development plan for Davao City focusing on land use, roads, urban transportation, water supply and solid waste management with a short term target year of 2022 and a long-term target year of 2045,” he said,
He said JICA decided to partner with the city and view as a model plans for the Japanese city of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture. The similarities include population size, distance from the capital city and longterm plans to make both locations environment-friendly cities.
Davao formed a strategic environmental partnership with Kitakyushu in November. Kitakyushu suffered from serious industrial pollution problems in the 1960s that were eliminated by the 1980s, becoming one of the most advanced environmental cities in Asia.
“Kitakyushu City established the Kitakyushu Model as a methodology for sustainable city development that is based on their experiences and knowhow of urban development,” Mr. Kumazawa said.
The Kitakyushu Model addresses areas like solid waste management, energy management, water and wastewater management, urban transportation and environmental preservation.
Lawyer Tristan Dwight Domingo, Davao’s assistant city administrator, said the study will focus on the review of the 2013-2022 Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) of the city, road network and mass transit, solid waste management and effective traff ic scheme.
“We will have a workshop with the Kitakyushu experts tomorrow (Jan. 25) and look at how we can come up with systems on proper waste segregation,” he said.
The project, which will last for 14 months, will be divided into two components — the development planning and capacity building stages. The draft final report is expected to be out by December. —