Bacolod to seek loan for infra projects
BACOLOD CITY – The city’s Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) approved a resolution, granting the request of Mayor Evelio Leonardia to authorize his office to obtain a loan of R1.7 billion from the Department of FinanceMunicipal Development Fund Office (DOF-MDFO) this year.
Bacolod Councilor Caesar Distrito said the SP also approved a resolution, granting the mayor authority to sign the letter of intent addressed to Secretary of Finance Carlos Dominguez III for various loan applications with the DOF-MDFO.
Distrito, chairperson of the SP Committee on Appropriations and Finance, said the resolutions were approved by a vote of 10 councilors, adding that the SP deemed it necessary to approve the request of the mayor for the proposed flagship projects of the administration since one of them involves the relocation site that will help address the problem of the city’s informal settlers.
Progreso Village Relocation Site will be allocated R350 million that will be used for land development, roads, and other facilities, he said.
The city is allowed to avail of a loan of at least R4 billion according to the DOF, he added.
Distrito said another R350 million is for the expansion of the Bacolod City College (BCC) in Barangay Taculing.
The City Engineer’s Office will be transferred and additional buildings and facilities will be put up in the area for BCC that can accommodate double its present population, he added.
He said the third project of the city will be the construction of local roads and bridges amounting to R200 million.
The biggest allocation amounting to R800 million will be for the Bacolod MassKara Sports Arena and Coliseum which will have a minimum of 10,000 sitting capacity, state-of-the-art facilities, and its design will be a tourist attraction itself, Distrito said.
Distrito said they were considering putting up the coliseum on property located in the Reclamation Area. They were also trying to get the approval of a donor of a property along the Circumferential Road because initially, there had already been an agreement.