BAGUIO CITY — There is a need to provide more green spaces and breathing areas at the central business district to freshen up the minds of the people, Councilor Elaine Sembrano said in a phone interview on Saturday.
Sembrano said the city council has given its initial approval to her proposed ordinance that requires establishments at the central business district (CBD) to incorporate in their business areas, stalls or buildings, a green zone to promote an environmentally friendly central business area and to help improve air quality in the city proper.
The councilor explained that having green plants or flowers in different colors provides a lighter mood -even to tired workers – aside from the aesthetic and environmental contribution plants give.
Sembrano said that green building technology is the trend adopted in response to a growing concern to mitigate the effects of global warming and plants absorb carbon dioxide emitted into the air by pollutants including human activity and placing them indoors would help clean the air.
She further said that many people no longer go to outdoor parks and playground and prefer staying in malls and shopping centers and establishing green zones would help clean the air that the public breathes even while they are in enclosed concrete places. She explained that her proposal includes commercial buildings like malls, shopping centers, fast-food centers, amusement centers and similar establishments.
Once approved, the city government through the City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO) will provide the plants that the establishment owners will put on their green zones.
“The CEPMO will be responsible in propagating and making available at the city nursery the appropriate indoor and outdoor plants to be given to the owners or managers of the commercial establishments for free,” Sembrano said. (PNA)
