Baste blames politics as reason Davao projects are put on hold

FILE PHOTO: Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte. ALBERT ALCAIN/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

DAVAO CITY — Mayor Sebastian Duterte blamed politics as the reason at least two priority big ticket projects of the city government here had been put on hold.

Duterte said in his state of the city address on Tuesday, August 6, that the waste-to-energy (WTE) project, which formed part of the city’s solid waste management, and the proposed high-priority bus system, which would phase out all jeepneys in the city, had not been moving since last year because of the national government failure to produce its counterpart fund.

The WTE project has been opposed by environment groups in this city because of the hazard that it brings to human health and the environment, while the high priority Davao bus project would finally phase out all jeepneys here, practically wiping out the source of livelihood of more than 6,000 drivers and operators, according to the transport group Transmission.

The WTE project is being funded by a P2.5-billion grant from the Japanese government with a P1-billion counterpart from the national government; 60 percent of the P74-billion Davao bus project is funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB); 38 percent as the counterpart fund from the national government and two percent as counterpart from the city government.

According to the mayor, both projects failed to move since last year because the national government failed to release its counterpart fund.

“I think the national government has enough money to invest in this,” Duterte said, referring to the WTE facility. “The DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) was supposed to give its counterpart fund but they put on hold the project last year without providing enough explanation,” he added.

Duterte said the Davao City High Priority Bus Project (HPBS), also known as the Davao Bus Project, also seemed to face a similar fate.

“Politics is getting thick here and we have less of nation building, so I doubt it if they would put money in (the project,” the mayor said. “I don’t want to be pessimistic, I’m just being realistic. They started that with the police,” he said.

Changes

The mayor was referring to the recent changes in the police leadership here and in the regions implemented by the police hierarchy without consulting him.

He perceived this as a lashback on the Duterte camp after the breakup of the political alliance between the Marcoses and the Dutertes this year.

“They don’t have clear justification on what they’ve done, why they did not put money on the WTE (facility), why there’s no money for the high priority bus system that would decongest the Davao city roads,” said the mayor, who in several Maisug rallies this year had called on President Marcos to resign.

He said the President himself had signed the agreement with the ADB for the Davao bus project in July last year. “So let’s see if they deliver it. We can’t afford it, so let’s wait (for them to deliver their promise),” Duterte said.

Both projects, however, had been opposed by different groups here.

The environment group Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS) expressed dismay at the mayor’s continuous support for the WTE incineration project despite their repeated warnings that such a project would bring adverse effects on humans and the environment. “As we always reiterate, burning wastes produces highly hazardous chemicals such as dioxins and furans, known to be carcinogenic.

These could also impact the neurological development of children, cause respiratory diseases, and pollute our water and air. The project will also worsen the effects of climate change as it incites the city to produce more waste to keep the facility running,” IDIS said in a statement.

Local drivers and operators are also bracing themselves against the implementation of the Davao city’s bus project which, according to Larry Arguelles, secretary general of transport group Transmission, would wipe out the livelihood of more than 6,000 drivers and operators actively plying the routes in Davao city, displacing their families.

Excerpt: Mayor Sebastian Duterte blamed politics as the reason two priority projects of the city government had been put on hold.