PUBLIC HEARING FOR PROPOSED SEPTAGE TREATMENT PLANT IN BALULANG
Posted:February 14, 2023
Public Relations

 

     To comply with the provisions of Republic Act 9275 or the Philippine Clean Water Act that aims to protect the country's water bodies from land-based pollution sources such as those coming from industries, agriculture, establishments and households, COWD will embark on a Septage Management Program for Cagayan de Oro City.

 

     A qualified service provider shall be commissioned to finance, design, build, operate and maintain a 200-cubic meter Septage Treatment Plant and the conduct of census, collection, transport, treatment and proper re-use or disposal of septage.  Residents and businesses connected with COWD shall have their septic tanks desludged every five (5) years as specified in the DOH Administrative Order No. 2019-0047.  Septage fees shall be collected through staggered payments added on top of the water bill.

 

    The proposed Septage Management Program for CDO is patterned after the long-established septage and sewerage programs of other large urban areas such as that of Quezon City, Taguig, Naga, Metro Cebu and Dumaguete.

 

    Last Saturday, February 11, 2023, COWD conducted a second public hearing at Barangay Balulang to determine its residents’ stance on the proposed construction of the Septage Treatment Plant on a COWD-owned lot located at Sitio Ilaya.

 

   Two hundred individuals residing near the proposed treatment plant site received invitations to the public hearing.  The result of the survey that followed indicated that many of the residents present supported the proposed Septage Management Program, however, they expressed their disapproval over the construction of a treatment plant within their immediate vicinity.

 

Present during the public hearing were representatives of CLENRO, the chairman and officials of Barangay Balulang and the COWD Septage Management Project Committee.