DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Davao City has been chosen as the recipient of the 1st Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) Clean Tourist City Award, a city official announced on Friday, December 1.
On her Facebook account, City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) head Generose Tecson posted a letter from Tourism Undersecretary Alma Rita Jimenez who congratulated the local government unit for gaining the said award.
“With this award, we hope to hear more stories of Davao City’s success in the improvement and maintenance of its tourist attractions and contributions to sustainable development,” Jimenez said in the letter dated November 24.
According to the letter, an awarding ceremony will be held during the ASEAN Tourism Forum in Chiang Mai, Thailand on January 26 next year.
Parameters for the award include: environmental management, cleanliness, waste management, awareness-building about environmental protection and cleanliness, green spaces, health safety and urban safety and security, and tourism infrastructure and facilities.
Chinkie Golle, executive director of the Interface Development Interventions, Inc. said she took part in the initial assessment of the city’s government and non-government discussion on whether Davao City passed these criteria.
Despite issues on Davao City’s solid waste management, Golle said the overall evaluation for the local government unit’s tourism destinations was positive. She said the city has an effort to ensure that the tourist destinations are well-maintained.
READ: Leaking landfill waste imperils Davao residents, rivers
“The award comes with a challenge for the city to improve its waste management. The increase in the volume of tourists will also result to an increase on the volume of waste we produce,” she said.
In November, the Environmental Management Bureau confirmed that the sanitary landfill in Tugbok District has been spilling out liquid that reach the wateres of Matina Pangi river.
The City Environment and Natural Resources Office said actions have been taken to address the said incident.
At least P42 million has been alotted to rehabilitate the said landfill, while the city is spending another P100 illion to construct a landfill facility. (davaotoday.com)
