SO MANY small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have sprouted in our country despite the pandemic and largely through the encouragement and support of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), banks and other financial institutions.
These SMEs, when taken collectively, make up the viable force in our economy and perforce. They should be nurtured and countenanced.
Financing the operations of these enterprises comes as scarce and unreachable before the government realized that they should not be taken for granted and thus be recognized as a valuable part of our recovering economy.
At the forefront of efforts to sustain these enterprises is the Department of Trade and Industry, which has been actively exploring all efforts to keep them sustainable.
The other government agencies would do well to come up with their respective actions to help improve the plight of the micro, small and medium enterprises.
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On land use planning. In deference to the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) of Mabalacat City, headed by Rosan S. Paquia, EnP, I may add this piece.
Excerpting from the handouts of the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, one comes to know about the preparation of a land-use plan.
One involves the element of land area and next spatial analysis and land use techniques, guidelines for agricultural land use planning and last the guidelines for urban land use planning.
Elements of land use planning. There are two types: long-range planning and project development planning. The long-range land-use plan involves operational decisions while a project development plan specifies physical layout of a project.
Theoretically, long range planning contains the following elements: a) furthering quality of life-land use planning should consider the evolving needs and lifestyles of the community over the planning period; b) Impact on quality of development- every project should encourage continued high quality development; c)development requirements- the plan should be properly phased and meet all applicable land use zoning requirements; d) environmental factors- the plan should describe the environmental characteristics such as land use patterns, roads and traffic and other social and economic elements and should assess the impacts of future development on these environment parameters; e) administrative factors- the long range plan should serve as the rationale and basis for administrative decisions regarding physical development such as operations, capital outlay, construction and general budgeting; f) adjustment of plan- assumption should be adjusted considering the pattern and changes in population growth, demographics, community needs and economic trends; g) coordination of the development plan- the results of the study should be superimposed on the existing land use plan; h) recommended line of performance- the tentative plan should be completed in approximately 18 months; i) land use performance- the community should prepare a general outline of requirements and suggestions for development; and j) land use development planning - this level of planning should be done by physical planning consultants such as architects, civil engineers and planners and should specify steps leading to the operation of specific facilities.
On project development planning (with focus on urban development planning) the following are its components: 1) land use - this should indicate all the deve4lopments following the standard classification set by the local agency; 2) land value- this should indicate the state tax assessment value at the time of study; 3) density - should indicate the resident density of the area; 4) traffic - should indicate the general traffic pattern and suggest ways to minimize congestion; and 5) intra-areal circulation - establish the automobile circulation system and the pedestrian circulation system and suggest a design that will minimize their conflict.