[ Manila Bulletin Online ] October 22, 2008
By VIC P. AREVALO
ZAMBOANGA CITY — The city government is now finalizing plans for the opening and development of at least three public cemeteries in three different barangays and has made available P50 million as initial fund for the purpose.
Mayor Celso Lobregat said yesterday that the development of new public cemeteries is one of the ten priorities under the City Development Strategies (CDS) and is expected to be in full swing by the first quarter of 2009.
The Mayor met with Task Force Cementerio, a group tasked to recommend measures how to implement the project. They discussed the progress of the proposed public cemetery improvement plan.
The delay in the early implementation of the project stemmed from lack of funds, the acquisition of clearance from the Department of Health, the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board and some other legal issues, the Mayor clarified.
According to Lobregat, bidding for the project will conducted during the last quarter of the year.
He said that in 2005, an amount of P3.5 million was included in the budget, another P3.5 million was allotted in the 2006 budget, and additional appropriations were included in the succeeding budgets that brought the total allocation to P50 million this year.
The new public cemeteries will be located in barangays Talabaan, Mampang, and Talisayan pursuant to an ordinance principally authored by the late Councilor Milabel Velasquez during the previous City Council.
