ICLEI lauds city's power and fuel savings
The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) has commended the city government for substantially minimizing electricity and fuel usage in Iloilo City.
The commendation was posted in the ICLEI-Southeast Asia homepage.
Mayor Jerry Treñas said that the city is a member of the council and an active participant in sustainable development programs sponsored by ICLEI. The council has also provided technical assistance to the city's various projects.
Treñas said that one of the partnerships the city government has with the international organization is implementing projects that are geared towards climate change protection.
In its homepage statement, the ICLEI said the city "reported a significant fuel and financial savings from streetlight retrofits and traffic policy enforcement." Because of these two programs, the city realized a combined estimate of P775 million or $14 million in savings.
Citing a report by city environment and natural resources officer Noel Hechanova, the ICLEI said that the implementation of the Perimeter Boundary Ordinance which restricted almost a thousand public utility vehicles from entering the city's boundaries since February 2004 also resulted in 9,225 liters of daily fuel savings equivalent to P751 million.
The streetlights retrofitting project which changed all incandescent lamps found in major metro thoroughfares and barangays to high sodium lamps likewise minimized energy use by 6,360 kilowatts a day and an estimated savings worth P2 million.
The city also organized a fuel and energy conservation task force which outlined the city's local climate agenda and pegged the energy reduction target by at least 10%.
Treñas thanked ICLEI for the commendation and said that the city will consistently do its share to ensure significant changes in terms of environmental concerns.
The mayor added that the city is now actively participating in ICLEI's water campaign and is also enjoining other local government units to do the same.
As of now, the city has already reached 4 out of the 5 climate change protection milestones it has intended to achieve, Treñas pointed out.
(Eireen Manikan/PIO)