Provincial Board (PB) Member Arleigh Sitoy’s argument that marine sanctuaries should be run by the local government unit (LGU) and not some private investor has merit.
By managing the marine sanctuary, a barangay can take full responsibility for its protection rather than just earn money from it.
But papers shown by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) showed that a floating restaurant and ramp located near the marine sanctuary in Gilutongan Island is, in fact, a project of the Cordova municipal government.
The documents cite the Cordova municipal government as the proponent of the project and it lists Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy as the lead proponent with an email address and office at the municipal hall.
The floating restaurant is managed by the Korean group Hei Yang Sports Inc. which earns income through tour packages to foreigners including South Korean tourists that promote the establishment and the marine sanctuary.
The mayor himself said the town earns P20 million a year from the project including P400,000 in monthly rent from the Korean group for the restaurant which is located beside and not within the marine sanctuary.
In any case, there are at least two issues to be tackled here; concern over the pollution caused by whatever garbage is disposed of by the restaurant which would likely find its way to the marine sanctuary and the issue of management of the marine sanctuary that PB Member Sitoy raised which may include a say on how the restaurant is being run.
One of the three minor violations cited by the EMB and its parent agency the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on the floating restaurant was the Korean group’s lack of permits to operate an air generator and a waste management facility for the restaurant.
Other than that, the mayor could point out that there is no solid evidence that the restaurant is polluting the marine sanctuary. But like all cases of pollution, the damage starts out slowly but surely.
Mayor Sitoy’s concern about the PB inquiry on the restaurant is understandable. What kind of local official would reject investments in his or her area?
But reports that the restaurant was set up before an environmental compliance certificate and other papers were secured showed the unnecessary haste and neglect made by the mayor in trying to expedite the completion of the floating restaurant project without taking into consideration the protection of the marine sanctuary in the first place.
Progress and investments are good and are needed by local government units like Cordova town but it shouldn’t be acquired at the expense of their environment.
Related Stories:
DENR cites violations in Cordova’s floating resto
Let LGUs, not bizmen, run marine sanctuaries – Sitoy
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