ZAMBOANGA CITY (PNA) – The City Development Council (CDC) has approved the Local Development Investment Plan (LDIP) for 2011-2013 and the P1.9-billion 2011 Annual Investment Plan (AIP).

At the same time, the CDC approved a resolution reaffirming the City Development Strategy (CDS), Zamboanga’s roadmap for development, as the executive legislative agenda of the city.

The same resolution was adopted by the Executive Legislative branches of the local government during the Executive-Legislative Agenda (ELA) meeting held Tuesday afternoon at the Garden Orchid Hotel.

A similar resolution was approved by the City Council in a special session it held after the ELA meeting.

Mayor Celso Lobregat, who heads the CDC, said the LDIP is a wish-list of projects for priority implementation for the next three years where the AIP is the list of projects that are included for  funding in the 2011 budget.

The projects cover the 10 flagship projects identified in the City Development Strategy and these include: Development of parks and gardens; development of the city’s resettlement projects; construction of barangay water supply projects; construction of sewage, drainage and flood control projects; construction of school buildings; development of public cemeteries; expansion of city road network; construction of sanitary landfill facility and transfer stations; construction of integrated bus terminal; and construction of a multi-level commercial parking deck and retail building/market complex.

Most of the projects included in the LDIP and the AIP are based on the recommendations of the Barangay Councils, non-government organizations (NGOs), and other members of the CDC.

“This is a concrete example of participatory governance,” Lobregat said in an interview stressing that the CDC is composed of the 98 villages, two congressional offices, NGOs, Office of the City Mayor, and the Council chairmen of the committees on appropriation and barangay affairs.