THE Iloilo City Government officially opened to the public the new Children’s Playground at Plaza Libertad following Monday flag raising ceremony April 8.
Mayor Jose Espinosa III and city officials joined San Jose de Placer priest Fr. Raymond Alcayaga in the blessing of the facility.
Espinosa said the P1.9-million project is part of the urban renewal of the metropolis.
“This is our own way of bringing back the life in our plazas and parks. Our plazas used to be very dark, so we put lights on them. We have also disallowed the selling of ‘ukay-ukay,’ and now, we have built playgrounds for the children where they can play and bond with their parents as well,” Espinosa said.
The new playground consists of swing, slides, seesaws, playground climbers, playground tunnels, and rubberized floor.
To ensure that children would not skip classes, Espinosa said the supervision will be turned over to the city’s Child Minding Center, and will assign a safety officer.
The same will be established in district plazas of Jaro, La Paz, and Molo.
“We are still in the process of identifying areas where to put the children’s playground,” Espinosa said.
“We are also planning to put up senior citizen’s park in our plazas where they can exercise as part of our project to renew the interests of the public to our plazas,” he added.
City Engineer Roberto Divinagracia said it was Espinosa who personally chose the equipment of children’s playground from several proposals submitted. (PR)