By Arabella Balderama

In a memorandum released on Thursday, January 11, 2024, Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) President Roberto Yap, SJ announced that the North Carpark upgrade project is suspended until the results from an open forum scheduled on January 31, 2024 are obtained.

The memorandum addressed concerns raised by the environmental student-led organizations of Ateneo, such as the Ateneo Biological Organization, Ateneo Environmental Science Society, as well as Ateneans Guided and Inspired by Love for Animals.

“While there were consultations regarding the North Carpark Upgrade Project, the University administration apologizes for the inadequacy of these consultations,” the advisory wrote.

With the North Carpark renovation’s aim of responding to the need for a “better-designed, maintained, and safer parking area,” the memorandum acknowledged that it is essential for the other on-campus car parks to be improved as well.

Along the process, other measures would also be done to promote sustainable campus mobility, particularly, increasing the number of e-jeeps.

Meanwhile, the memorandum clarified that the invasive tree species have been replaced since 2016 “to further enhance biodiversity conservation on campus.”

North Carpark Upgrade

The project was announced last December 2023, garnering various feedback from the Ateneo community and the general public.

Statements from organizations in Ateneo had pointed out that the renovation was “counterintuitive” from ADMU’s Laudato Si’ plans and that it only enabled car-centricity.

As a response, the Ateneo administration would conduct an open forum on January 31, 2024 to further discuss with the Ateneo community and hear out their concerns, viewpoints, as well as suggested solutions for the issue.

Thumbnail from Ateneo de Manila University