THE Cebu City Parks and Playgrounds Commission has started a greening and beautification program in the city in preparation for two major events-the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit next year and the International Eucharistic Congress in 2016.
Arleigh Gesta of the commission said they started the greening and beautification program last Nov. 3.
He said the commission has hired 36 new job-order (JO) personnel for the project, which will be in addition to the present 19 JOs they have.
Gesta said the commission is propagating plants on the sidewalks and center islands in the city’s major thoroughfares, as well as in Plaza Independencia.
The plaza will be the venue for the opening of the IEC. The event is expected to gather 25,000 people.
The plants they are putting, he said, are coming from the City Government-owned and operated nursery in Oppra, Barangay Kalunasan.
Gesta also said they are maintaining other plazas and parks in the city to make sure they are well kept for the two events.
Gesta said they will prune the trees in the sidewalks and center islands to avoid accidents.
Gesta said each of the JO’s they have hired is paid by the City at P320 per day for 22 days.
Their contract, he said, only covers the period until December. The City has set aside P506,880 for the salaries of the additional 36 JO’s.
Gesta said the commission has included another budget to cover the JO’s salaries under the executive department’s proposed P18.9 billion budget for next year. PDF