Sorsogon City now a "Learning Site to Visit", shares success implementation of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation strategies

BY Irma A. Guhit

SORSOGON CITY, Feb. 15 PIA)...... If Filipinos visit Cambodia to see their famous Angkor Wat, representatives from several local governments in Cambodia are here in the city of Sorsogon now to immerse and learn into the strategies implemented by the local government in terms of Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation.

Recommended by the UN Habitat as one of the places here in Asia whose strategies for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation (CCAM) are well in place, Sorsogon City is now among those under the CCAM assisted cities considered as a "Learning Site to Visit" as a local government in Asia.

The representatives from Cambodia who have arrived yesterday will be exposed to the different CCAM human and infrastructure initiatives that had been instituted here, Sorsogon City having been assisted by several global funding agencies working on disaster risk reduction mechanisms and strategies to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change.

Sorsogon City Mayor Leovic R. Dioneda said that the representatives from Cambodia will be shown the implementation of programs  under the CCAM strategies starting from the practice of the city's Ecological Solid Waste Management program, the establishment of their Materials Recovery Facilities; the installation of the Light Emitting Diode (LED) using solar energy within the city premises and as street lights; the School Mitigating Adapting Risk and Threat  (SMART) schools used as evacuation centers; the retrofitting program of houses exposed to highly vulnerable areas especially in 5 pilot barangays here and the establishment of the city's CCAM office where equipment and devices are installed to include the automatic weather station.

The city will also share the implementation of the Executive Order 3, s 2011 or the
local scheme/policy on the conversion of 2-stroke tricycle motors to the more efficient and emission reducing 4-stroke motors developed and adopted by the city government under CCAM initiatives.

Mayor Dioneda will also explain to them the city's contingency plan on Disaster Risk Reduction Management as he had been usually invited in foreign countries to share the success story of the city in terms of creating an aware and enlightened citizenry when it comes to managing natural calamities and becoming a resilient community.

He will also expose these visitors to the organizational structure of the CCAM starting from the barangays, the schools, non-governmental organization partners and other government entities on how they harmonize efforts to implement a resilient community with regards to disaster risk reduction management.

Mayor Dioneda will also share the communication strategies being implemented in the city, the use of the comprehensive land use plan to ensure safety mechanism of infrastructure development.

The Cambodian visitors will in the same manner share their experiences in the implementation of their CCAM strategies in Cambodia.

According to Manny Daep, city information officer, Sorsogon City has been now highlighted as a "Learning site to visit" since from last year 2011, a lot of visitors from local and international communities have been here and learned from the city's CCAM project implementation.( PIA- SORSOGON)