NO ENTRY. Fishermen of Barangays Cogon Pardo, Mambaling and Pasil with their families protest the culvert bridge at the South Road Properties (SRP) service road leading to the Inayawan Landfill because it prevents their bancas from passing through the Talisay City side so they can fish (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA).
Culvert bridge meant for garbage trucks bars motorboats from crossing channel
Fisherman Samuel Taraya recalled passing through the channel near the Inayawan landfill where he would join his father to catch fish.
Even when the South Road Properties (SRP) was being built, Taraya said they would use the same channel.
And when the SRP was done, fishermen were still given a small portion of the channel so they can still fish within distance from their homes in Barangay Cogon Pardo in Cebu City.
Now 48 years old, Taraya joined other fisherfolk in the area to protest the city government’s ongoing construction of a bridge of culverts connecting SRP to the Inayawan landfill.
“Dili unta ni nila sirad-an kay wala na gyud miy agianan. Wala gyud sila nakigsabot. Wa gyud sila niingon nga naa silay proyekto diri (They should not have closed off the channel because we don’t have space to pass through now. They didn’t consult us. They didn’t even inform us that they will have a project here),” said Taraya, the president of the Pardohanon Pundok sa Kabus nga Mananagat (PPKM) said.
The culverts prevent even the small non-motorized boats from passing through the channel going to the sea.
Close to a hundred fisherfolk held a protest at the construction site yesterday morning.
While they said they have no problem with creating a bridge to connect the SRP to the Inayawan landfill for the garbage trucks, the fisherfolk said it should have allowed their boats to pass through.
Romeo Trazone, president of the Panaghugpong sa Mananagat sa Syudad sa Sugbo (Pamadasu), said they were not consulted by City Hall about the project.
He said they would have opposed it from the beginning since a lot of the fisherfolk of Barangays Cogon Pardo, Inayawan, Bulacao and Mambaling use the channel to go out to sea.
Though there is a different water channel near the LUDO facility, Trazona said it is far for some of the fishermen.
During high tide, they cannot pass through since the vertical clearance of the bridge there is low.
“It already gets flooded sometimes even without the culverts, how much more now?” Trazona said in Cebuano.
Councilor Pastor Alcover Jr. joined the fisherfolk during yesterday’s protest.
He asked why the city is constructing the bridge when they plan to stop dumping garbage by January 1.
Cebu Daily News tried to contact Department of Public Services (DPS) chief Roberto Cabarrubias for comment on the concern but his cellphone number cannot be reached.
City Engineer Josefa Ylanan also didn’t answer calls from reporters who wanted to get her comment on the issue.