Garcia secures P1-billion grant from JICA in recent Yokohama trip

Local

CEBU City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia recently flew to Yokohama, Japan to attend the ASEAN Smart City Conference.

The official business trip was the reason why Vice Mayor Donaldo "Dondon" Hontiveros took over the city, particularly during the onslaught of Typhoon Kristine.

Yokohama has been a sister city of Cebu City for the past 20 years, according to Garcia, which was formalized during the time of his father, former Mayor Alvin Garcia.

Garcia said that he was among the panelists or speakers during the event, sharing the role that cities of Southeast Asian countries play in promoting green environments and green cities.

Accompanied by City Architecture Planner Joseph Michael “Yumi” Espina, Garcia said it was during the trip that they secured a P1-billion grant from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The mayor said that the project with JICA will center on creating a wastewater treatment plant that will be located in the North Reclamation Area in Cebu City.

Garcia said that the project will be a partnership with the Metropolitan Cebu Water District, with a scheduled meeting in the second week of November to discuss the project.

"Considering importante kaayo ang wastewater treatment dinhi sa City of Cebu," he said.

He said that there are a lot of businesses and residential areas in the city, including the seven major rivers in the city.

However, they do not have a proper facility for treating wastewater from these establishments before releasing it into the sea.

He said the city does not have a centralized sewage treatment plant to process wastewater before it reaches the sea.

"Can you imagine, in our river where we did our test... you know pila ang coliform level? Pwerte ra gyud gamaya, 32 million coliform level," he said.

According to the National Library of Medicine, every 100 ml sample should not exceed 10 coliform organisms.

Additionally, Garcia said that JICA and Yokohama will also conduct a sewerage master plan for the city free of charge.

He said that normally it would cost 20 million to 30 million pesos or more to have a sewerage master plan, but due to the complexity of the project, it will be completed in a minimum of three years.

"It will be very detailed. So, it will now serve as our guiding document for developing our sewage system here in Cebu City," he added.

Garcia also disclosed that he did not spend any public funds on his trip but instead used his personal money.(MyTVCebu)