GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 29 Oct) – The city government has allocated around P200 million for the operations and planned expansions of its four economic enterprises next year.
City Councilor Franklin Gacal Jr., chair of the council’s committee on finance, ways and means and economic enterprises, said such appropriation was based on the proposed budget for 2015 set by the city’s executive department for the city hospital, public market, slaughterhouse and terminal.
He said the city hospital, which is currently undergoing expansion, received the bulk of the proposed budget with P175.4 million, which increased by around P5 million when compared to its budget this year.
The city’s public market received around P12.85 million, followed by the terminal with P10.5 million and the slaughterhouse with P1.429 million, he said.
Gacal said they are set to conduct a series of committee hearings for the proposed appropriations along with the city’s government’s proposed budget of P1.461 billion for 2015.
Such allocation increased by around P166 million when compared to the city’s 1.29 billion budget this year.
City Mayor Ronnel Rivera had committed to increase the city hospital’s budget for next year to continue with its ongoing expansion and improvements.
In the last two years, the local government has increased the city hospital’s budget by around P40 million or from the P130.167 million it received in 2013.
Through assistance from the Department of Health, the mayor said they have invested around P67 million since last year for the rehabilitation and improvement of the city hospital.
Rivera said they completed the construction of additional operating room theaters, medical isolation unit and hemodialysis center building; and the renovation and expansion of the Tuberculosis Multi-Drug Resistant clinic, intensive care unit and the maternity or obstetrics and gynecology ward.
He said they have spent an additional P47 million for the procurement of drugs, medicines and other vital hospital supplies.
Rivera said they are drawing out plans to further improve and expand the other facilities at the hospital to address its overcrowding problems.
Aside from the infrastructure improvements, he added that they are currently implementing several reforms to further enhance the hospital’s operations and services.