A sample of the biofence manufactured by CCENRO.
Nets used as floaters will soon be installed on riverbanks and other waterways in Cebu City to prevent garbage from going out to sea.
The initiative of the Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CCENRO) hopes to prevent garbage from reaching the city’s coastal areas, said former city councilor and CCENRO officer-in-charge Nida Cabrera.
Called biofences, the floaters are made from recycled plastic bottles wired together before these are wrapped in fishnets that are designed to swing loosely underwater.
Each of the biofence is about ten meters long and half-a-meter wide and cost around P800.
“We have long been planning to do something about (the) water pollution here in Cebu City. This is one step to helping the environment,” Cabrera told Cebu Daily News.
The CCENRO tested a prototype of the biofence on the waters of the Pasil fish port on September 6 to especially see if this can withstand strong current.
Cabrera said that they plan to start mass production of the biofences next week and have their finished products installed in bodies of water in the city before the year ends.
“We don’t just want to enforce ordinances against water pollution, we want to provide a solution to this long withstanding problem,” Cabrera said./Delta Dyrecka
Letigio, USJ-R Intern