ENVIRONMENTAL groups seeking to regulate infrastructure projects within the city's Water Resource Areas (WRAs) and Conservation Areas (CA) expressed optimism for more productive discussions and decision-making with the City Development Council (CDC) that will hold its General Assembly tomorrow, June 19.
Ann Fuertes, executive director of environmental group Idis, said it is important for the CDC to convene so that it can finally begin to appraise and prioritize the socio-economic development programs and projects for the city.
"There are already so many pending development project applications in the city. Under the law, the CDC is mandated to discuss project applications before issuing their recommendations to the City Council for further deliberation and approval or cancellation,' Fuertes said in a statement furnished to Sun.Star Davao.
"In the interests of transparency and efficiency, the CDC will have a lot of work to do and we are glad that the civil society can participate and contribute to its mandate," she added.
The Local Government Code mandates the participation of the private sector and NGOs in the CDC through the election of its representatives who shall not be more than one-fourth of the members of the fully constituted Council.
Only organizations that are officially accredited by the City Council will be invited to join the assembly. The application for accreditation is done every three years or after the election. The office of Councilor Marie Dayap receives all applications, including supporting documents which prove that the CSO is legally registered and operating in the city.
"We are happy that a General Assembly has been convened to elect new members and officers to Davao's City Development Council. We look forward to participating and engaging other stakeholders toward crafting and implementing development policies which can benefit the city," Fuertes said.
With Davao City Council having recently approved the amendments to its Comprehensive Land Use Plan, Idis said the CDC members will have their hands full in ensuring that the Clup is implemented.