The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) here gathered six local government units (LGUs) that may comprise the Metro Dumaguete to help its land use planning for the harmonization in hazard mapping.
Assistant Regional Director Atty. Gilbert Arbon of DOST-Negros Island Region explained that said LGUs have yet to update its Comprehensive Land Use Plans (CLUPs) as their respective existing plans do not match with that of the neighboring LGUs.
Initially, the plan to create Metro Dumaguete shall be composed of the City of Dumaguete as the metropolitan center, the neighboring municipalities of Dauin, Bacong, Valencia in the north, Sibulan and San Jose in the southern part of Negros Oriental.
Undersecretary Renato Solidum Jr. for Disaster Risk Reduction-Climate Change Adaptation (DRR-CCA) of DOST warned that Visayas region and Negros Oriental are exposed to various natural hazards that can cause loss of lives, properties and severely impact the economy.
Solidum said that what turns potential hazards into disasters is poor planning, hence, a joint effort is needed to lessen the impact or get better at disaster prevention, preparedness and mitigation.
“Since creating a Metro Dumaguete has been talked about for so many years, we wanted to focus the resources of DOST to help the LGUs update CLUP to partly reduce the impact of disasters,” Arbon said.
Recently, Dumaguete City Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo took the initiative to unite the six LGUs to establish a common sanitary landfill.
“We want to build up on that issue to keep the momentum to go beyond and tackle climate change adaptation as a common concern in Metro Dumaguete,” said Arbon.
Arbon added that there is really a need for LGUs to work together and agree, for instance on waste management and the problem of flooding as LGUs are inter-dependent with each other. (jct/PIA7-Negros Oriental)
