Drainage, brgy aid top P1-B Cebu City plan

MORE than half of the nearly P1-billion budget set for the 2012 Annual Investment Plan (AIP) of Cebu City will go to drainage improvement and cash aid  to the city’s 80 barangays, City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete said yesterday.

About P300 million will go to drainage projects and P220 million will fund assistance to barangays.

Poblete said there’s a bigger chance that the projects will be implemented due to the definite availability of funding sources.

The AIP is funded from the 2012 Local Development Fund (LDF), which covers  20 percent of Cebu City’s Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share of about P1 billion annually.

Another fund source is the 2012 general fund, Poblete said.

The AIP, which amounts to P900 million, will include the Pasil Park project worth P25 million, the senior citizen’s park at P10 million and renovation of the Cebu City Police Office at P10 million.

About P10 million was set as  financial aid to nongovernment and people’s organizations.

These projects were proposed by Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama in the recent Second Supplemental Budget but the City Council decided against it due to lack of funding.