Loan for Naga septage plant OK’d
A septage treatment plant that will soon rise in the City of Naga may be poised to become the first facility of its kind in Cebu to be funded by a local government.
The City Council has authorized Mayor Valdemar Chiong to enter into a memorandum of agreement for the loan application with Development Bank of the Philippines-Cebu for the construction and operation of the septage treatment plant.
The loan, according to the ordinance approved by the council, will amount to P80 million.
Chiong and DBP-Cebu head Lorna Gallego recently signed the MOA that formalized the city government's loan agreement with the bank.
According to Chiong, the septage management facility will put an end to the indiscriminate dumping of untreated sludge on land or waterways in the city. This, as it will completely manage the handling, treatment and proper disposal of septage.
"The City of Naga would probably be the first LGU in Cebu to have a government-funded septage treatment facility once it is fully operational for public use," Chiong said.
Chiong said the project is in compliance with the implementation of Republic Act 9275 or the Philippine Clean Air Act of 2004, PD 198 or the Water District Law, PD 856 or the Sanitation Code of the Philippines and the RA 7160 or the Local Government Code of the Philippines.
Under the law, all local government units are mandated to pursue a policy for the protection and preservation of marine waters, the mayor said.
The project, he added, will serve as an effective tool in promoting environmental strategies in order to protect water resources and to prevent these from any contamination and pollution from waste of septic tanks.
With this project, however, the city administration will require all households, subdivisions, establishments and government offices, among others, to have their own septic tanks with water tight, no leaching compartment, appropriately sized and must be located at least 25 meters from any well and contain access port for de-sludging.
Meanwhile, the city government already enacted the septage management ordinance providing the collection and treatment of septage, a management structure to supervise the operations of collection and treatment of wastewater, and a cost recovery plan through a septage fee system.