Road improvements and a P100-million stadium are being completed in the University of San Carlos (USC) Talamban campus, where officials said they are following regulations set by the environment department.
Retention ponds are also being set up to address flooding and runoff water.
“For that project we have invested P7.7 million which has significantly reduced flooding,” said Engr. Ricardo Formis, assistant dean of the Department of Engineering.
The university held a press briefing to give updates on the projects and explain a notice of violation of its Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC).
“We are now paying the Department of Envrionment and Natural Resources (DENR) P25,000 as penalty because some documentation wasn’t updated,” said Ellis Puerto, director of the university’s Infrastructure and Development Office.
He said the university applied for its ECC in 1999 and 2004, but failed to submit documents to support the updated ECC so the ongoing road improvments were cited as a violation of conditions of the ECC.
Puerto said a l.1-kilometer road improvement on campus comes with bike lanes and wider sidewalks at a cost of P39 million.
The university also invested in a P7.7 million rainwater collection and harvest system.
“After our technical meeting with DENR, we have a better understanding about the projects now and have agreed to regularly give them reports and updates,” Puerto said.
Fr. Lucio Pedro T. Dayag, SVD, property administrator of USC said the university wants to show that it upholds environmental responsibility.
Another project started in 2005 is the P100-million stadium which will be completed this year.
Opposition
In July last year, some faculty members critcized what they said was the unnecessary cutting of trees and earth moving on campus.
Architect Maxwell Espina said engineers should have avoided building in areas where trees stood and that the road design could have been done in a way that did minimal disturbance to slopes and vegetation.
Radel Paredes, a Cebu Daily News columnist who teaches at USC’s College of Architecture and Fine Arts, dramatized their opposition by using the exposed limestone wall of a hillside as a backdrop for protest artworks.
Other critics brought up the USC administration’s use of an old ECC to carry out the new project.
In 2003, the university got approval from DENR to cut 173 trees, mostly Mahogany and Gmelina.
Over 130 trees have been felled with the lumber used to make furniture for the school, said officials.
“For every tree that we cut down, we need to replace it with 100 according to the law… which we have accomplished through annual tree planting involving thousands of students,” Dayag explained.
He said they will plant fruit-bearing trees to attract more endemic birds in the area.
Together with students, Formis said they are conducting research on how to better collect rainwater and use it for flushing toilets or watering plants.
“At present we already have buildings with dual systems and are collecting rainwater that is used for flushing in the College of Architecture and Fine Arts, Learning and Research Center, Nursing and two new dormitories,” said Fornis.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
