The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod yesterday agreed to schedule a special session on Tuesday to take up concerns on the site of the proposed Bacolod government center chosen by Mayor Evelio Leonardia in Barangay Taculing, SP member Greg Gasataya said.

The body held a joint executive-legislative consultation yesterday attended by, among others, Brgy. Taculing captain Rommel Sanson, who reiterated his opposition to the site chosen by Leonardia. During the consultation, Sanson, however, said politics has nothing to do with his stand on the proposed site but admitted he did not consult his constituents before the Taculing Barangay Council passed a resolution opposing the location of the proposed city center.

Leonardia, who has been authorized by the city to negotiate a P400-million loan for the construction of the city center, had said barangay officials opposing the site may want to sabotage the project because they do not want his administration to succeed.

Taculing Kagawad Charlie Pabular pushed for the construction of the government center in the barangay, citing the additional economic gains for the barangay when the city center is constructed.

Sanson claimed that Taculing residents will not benefit from the project, the anticipated traffic and drainage problems in the site.

He said the proposed site, located near the Bacolod City National High School and Bacolod City College, is considered the water basin of all the neighboring subdivisions and always becomes flooded, claiming that the project will also affect BCNHS and the BCC.

But councilor Al Victor Espino stressed the need for technical experts to survey the site. "Nothing is impossible with modern engineering," he said.

Sanson proposed to have a cost-benefit analysis to be conducted by engineers, on the Taculing site and the other property being offered to the city in Barangay Mansilingan.

Councilor Homer Bais also suggested that representatives of the business sector like the MBCCI and owners of hotels and restaurants be invited to the next hearing, or issue a stand on the proposed city center site.

Leonardia had issued Executive Order No. 6 on March 14, ordering the construction of a city government center in Brgy. Taculing.

The Executive Order is based on SP Resolution No. 96 dated Jan. 26, "declaring the inadequacy of the present City Hall site and declaring the need for another site to augment the present site." *CPT

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