Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza. Rosalie O. Abatayo
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu – The Lapu-Lapu City government plans to give food assistance to about 25 families of fisherfolk, whose livelihood are threatened because of the hospital waste found in the waters off the city’s shores recently.
Mayor Paz Radaza, in a press briefing on Tuesday, January 15, 2019, said she already asked the city’s social welfare office to validate the actual number of individuals affected.
Radaza said the barangay captain of Ibo, the the coastal village where the floating hospital waste was first spotted, has expressed concern that some of his constituents are now afraid to fish in their areas because of fear that their catch might be infected by the biohazard wastes.
Residents were temporarily prohibited from swimming and fishing in the waters off Ibo since it may have been contaminated.
“Usa pa ang ni-open up sa ako katong sa Ibo. Gitawagan ko niya nga sort of worried ang iyang mga constituents tungod nga naa na ang hospital waste unya hesitant na sila moadto sa dagat,” Radaza said.
Radaza said they will strictly validate the list of families that will be given the food assistance in order not to “misconstrue the assistance as electioneering.”
“Ang atong tagaan kay kato ra gyod nga validated nga naa didtoy mga fisherfolk nga affected. Kung wala, wala pod tay ihatag dili kay basta lang mohatag ta og assistance kay lahi man na nga provisions ang nagcover ana,” Radaza said.
Radaza said that no cash assistance is being eyed yet for the fisherfolk.
Among the waste found in the waters off Barangay Ibo were dialysis tubes, dextrose hoses, blood bags, sputum containers. BJO