The Department of Environment and Natural Resources or DENR and the Cebu City government conduct a cleanup drive in Kinalumsan River and the coastal area of Barangay Mambaling on Tuesday, August 11, 2020. (Photo courtesy of DENR-7)
CEBU CITY, Philippines— Household wastes comprised most of the trash hauled from the heavily silted and highly contaminated Kinalumsan River in Cebu City during a massive cleanup drive held on the river and the coast of Barangay Mambaling in this city on Tuesday morning, August 11.
The cleanup drive is part of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Central Visayas (DENR-7) and the Cebu City government’s plan to rehabilitate the river and the coast of the south district barangay of Cebu City.
DENR-7, in a news release, said Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu personally had ordered the regional office through the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) and the local government to conduct a massive cleanup in the area alongside other sustainable activities to “revive” the water bodies upon personally seeing their present condition.
Read: DENR, partners gear up to revive Mahiga’s River
Cimatu has been frequenting Cebu since his appointment as the Inter-Agency Task Force’s (IATF) overseer for the COVID-19 response in the city.
“A dirty river or any water body present in the area is not conducive to the healing process that we are all aiming and working for,” DENR-7 quoted Cimatu.
The cleanup drive was spearheaded by the Cebu City Department of Public Services and the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) with the participation of Bantay Dagat and River Troopers will be conducted for five consecutive days.
An action planning workshop will be conducted within the week in order to identify the applicable interventions for the rehabilitation of the bodies of water.
“All private establishments located near and in the area will also be coordinated to forge more partnerships and ink an agreement to do the rehab process together. A webinar will be conducted for the Barangay Environment Officers, River Troopers, and Sangguniang Kabataan leaders as part of the sustainable approach in the process,” DENR-7 said.
Read: Cenro, DPS clean up Mahiga Creek amid rains
EMB-7 Regional Director Lormelyn Claudio also echoed Cimatu’s concern on the effect of the state of the bodies of water to the health of the residents surrounding the area.
Claudio said that “the river’s deterioration has reached the point where it has posed threat to the safety and health of the communities along its banks, and which the residents and the government can no longer address effectively without help from the non-government sector.”/dbs