Monday, June 26, 2006
Baguio swim pool a 'white elephant': official
THE City Government spent millions of government funds for an infrastructure project that is hardly used, said a city department head, referring to the underutilized Baguio Olympic-sized swimming pool.
This as Josephine Chan, officer-in-charge of the City Environment and Parks Management Office (Cepmo), said the city's swimming pool, which was primarily intended for the training of city athletes, is considered a white elephant as the facility is hardly used because of the lack of heating equipment.
The City Government would reportedly spend P150,000 per month for the solar heating of both the Olympic-sized pool and the warm-up pool.
"The swimming pool is a white elephant. (They) should have thought of a more feasible project," said Chan, adding that the money spent for the project should have been used to clean Burnham's "filthy and dirty" lake.
Chan issued the statement in a recent appearance before members of the City Council when she presented the preservation plan for city parks.
For the Athletic Bowl, the Cepmo proposed that this should contain the standard Olympic track similar to the track located at the Teachers Camp.
Chan added that the Athletic Bowl playfield also has to be improved by upgrading the areas where the long jump, shot put, javelin throw, and discuss throw are played.
The city swimming pool is one of the impact projects of then Baguio congressman Bernardo Vergara. The project was turned over to the City Government last August 2002 by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) through District Engineer Zeny Cerezo.
Excluding the pool's heating equipment, which costs P8 million, the project was worth around P40 million.
For quite sometime, access to the pool was limited because of the delayed installation of the heating equipment.
Mayor Braulio Yaranon last Aug. 3, 2004 approved Ordinance 34-2004, which contained the general guidelines for the management, operation and maintenance of the swimming pool complex.
While stressing that the pool should be more of a service facility than an economic enterprise, Section 2 of the ordinance also prescribed regulatory fees for the pool's use.
For a minimum of four hours, the City Treasurer Office was tasked to collect P50 per head. The fees are supposed to be deposited in trust account where the accumulated amount will be used for the facility's upkeep, salaries, payment of water and electricity bills, utility bills and for the purchase of equipment and paraphernalia. (RO)
(June 26, 2006 issue)
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