19 Jun STP SOON TO RISE
Sanitation needs of General Santos City will soon be served as first ever Septage Treatment Facility (STP) will now occupy the long-idled hectare of land in Purok Udagre, Barangay Conel.
The fulfillment of the planned facility is pushed through the combined efforts of the Local Government Unit of General Santos City, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR) and General Santos City Water District (GSCWD).
During the groundbreaking ceremony on November 14, 2019 GSCWD Director Rabmor Thomas Bartolome said that GSCWD will ensure that the treatment facility construction will be done on time so we can start giving SMP services on its target implementation on 2021.
“This is a defining moment for General Santos City. I know all of us here have one common goal in heart of protecting our water source from contamination and pollution and today we are finally breaking the ground for that vital purpose”, he said.
The project will cater 26 barangays of Gensan City, covering regular septage collection of households, commercial, industrial and septic tanks of institutional establishments as stated in City Ordinance No. 53 s. 2017, also known as The Revised General Santos City Septage Management Ordinance.
It can be remembered that Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau XII (DENR-EMB XII) granted P3.347M to be utilized for the preparation of the SMP’s feasibility study.
“We are working double time for this project. We are making sure that we get necessary government permits like Environment Compliance Certificate, building permits and the like to ensure a complete and functional treatment plant”, Septage Management Program Team Leader Francisco R. Alolod said.
While we are yet to purchase desludging trucks, Alolod said the project planned to temporarily tap city’s private septic companies for the collection of wastes through their own vacuum trucks.
During the desludger’s forum on November 14, 2019 participated by eight companies, it was reiterated that they should follow all legal regulations pertaining to waste collection.
Meanwhile, USAID Senior Acquisition and Assistance Specialist Sandra Jansen is positive that this project will succeed and will produce expected outcomes.
“We are here to support this project down until its very last phase. We aim to provide better and healthy living standard to all Filipinos. We are happy that General Santos City is pushing this project for the benefit of its residents”, Jansen added.
A minimal amount is pegged at Environmental Fee, subject to the approval of Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), which will cover cost of desludging, transportation, waste treatment, recovery and other operational cost.
Mandated under the city ordinance, homeowners who fail to follow desludging schedule will be fined 1,500.00 for first offense and 2,500.00 for second offense.
According to General Manager Arn B. Gellangarin, this is an important milestone to the city stating this project will protect public health and the environment.
“During the initial IEC activities conducted on the past months, we heard a few negative responses from the community with regards to the ordinance. So that is the challenge. We need to tell them to look forward to the future where we see clean bodies of water and clean drinking water free from all diseases. This can only be achieved if we start to see this project positively”, GM Arn shared during the desludger’s forum on Nov 14, 2019 at Tierra Montana Hotel and Restaurant in GSC.
The STP will be designed to treat domestic sludge daily collected from GSCWD household clients that already reaches to more or less 50,000 as of December 2019.
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Mayor Ronnel Rivera leads the burying of the time capsule during the groundbreaking ceremony of GSCWD's Septage Treatment Plant. With him are some of USAID's key officials and GSCWD's Board of Directors.
By Lipsy Grace C. Lucas
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