Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Tomas to yield animals too
HERE is one Province-owned lot the Capitol wants to get back that the Cebu City Government has no objection to.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña and the Cebu Provincial Government have agreed to have the possession, management, and maintenance of the seven-hectare Cebu City zoo in Barangay Kalunasan reverted to the Capitol.
He asked the City Council to authorize him to enter into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Capitol for the lot’s return to the Provincial Government.
The council will discuss the request in today’s regular session.
City Councilor Nestor Archival, whom the mayor tasked to ask for the body’s authority, said the City can no longer maintain the zoo because of financial constraints.
The zoo has 91 animals that include 30 pigeons and 13 monkeys.
Dr. Alice Utlang, City Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries (DVMF) head, said that while the City has a yearly allocation for the animals’ food, it has no budget to develop and maintain the facilities there.
No income
“We have a budget but as to expense for the facilities, we do not have any. The City is spending money in maintaining the facility without getting any income because we are only relying on donations. We have enough to maintain it but we can’t improve the facilities,” she said.
Except for a dilapidated administration structure and the animals’ cages, there is nothing much in terms of facilities in the zoo.
Besides, Utlang said, the zoo’s location is no longer conducive for the animals because of the presence of numerous residences nearby.
And the areas for trees are already few, she added.
On Sept. 18, 1969, Capitol donated Lot 1298 to the Boys Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) for campsites in Kalunasan.
Condition
Seven hectares, specifically a gully in the area, were excluded from the BSP’s use because it was set aside for the zoo, which was at Fort San Pedro that time.
The donation contained a provision where the lot should be reverted to the Capitol’s ownership if it is no longer used as intended in the agreement.
In 1971, the zoo was managed by Lamplighters World Peace Mission (Phils.) Inc. headed by the late priest Elueterio Tropa.
When Tropa died, management was handed back to City Hall.
Utlang said a nongovernment organization expressed interest in taking over management of the zoo, but the lot was already the subject of a negotiation between City Hall and Cebu Province.
She said Archival, City Administrator Francisco Fernandez, Gov. Gwen Garcia, herself and several Provincial Board members already met and discussed the zoo’s fate.
D’ Family Park in Barangay Talamban, which has a mini-zoo, was also willing to accept some of the animals, she added. (RHM)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 21, 2007 issue)
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