Limestone, rocks hauled to Boljoon coast despite DENR stop order

DUMPING RESUMES

Rep. Caminero pushes for reclamation

Before Christmas Day last month,  Boljoon town’s coastal residents noticed the sea had turned muddy brown.

Residents could no longer swim in what used to be crystal  clear water behind the barangay hall by the sea.

It got murkier after typhoon Seniang on Dec. 30, 2014.

“The seawater has turned brown. It looks like a flood water,” said Poblacion barangay captain Alexseus Celis.

He was describing siltation caused by limestone dumped from Ili Rock, the town’s landmark cliff by the sea, whose controversial excavation was initially opposed by residents.

Seagrass in abundance is exposed at low tide in barangay Liloan, Santander town in the southern tip of Cebu . The seagrass bed is a rich ecosystem, providing food and habitat for fish, algae and other marine life. It also traps sediments which protects coral reefs, a safeguard that is also found in nearby Boljoon town. (CDN PHOTO/ TONEE DESPOJO)

DUMPING RESUMES

QM Builder, the contractor of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), had resumed dumping limestone and rocks in the sea.

This took place despite a December 12 cease-and-desist order issued by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) to stop any reclamation work in sitio Talisay, barangay Poblacion.

Boljoon Mayor Merlou Derama said he was the one who ordered the contractor to dump limestone materials in the short term to fill in a caved-in portion of a damaged reclamation section near the barangay hall.

“Gipabutangan lang sa nako. Ako gihangyo na didto lang sa likod sa may barangay hall kay delikado naman kay na makan-an ang barangay hall. Naa may sinkhole didto og delikado na dagko kaayo ang bawd makan-an basin matagak na ang barangay hall,” Derama said in a telephone interview.  Derama was in Manila for a holiday vacation.

(I had the material placed there. I asked the contractor to fill a sinkhole near the barangay hall which is at risk of big waves eroding the building.)

Boljoon town officials want to rehabilitate its former plaza and seawall by using limestone and rocks excavated from Ili Rock. Is extending the reclamation farther from the coast the answer? (CDN FILE PHOTO)

Limestone materials are dumped to the coast of Boljoon town. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

CONGRESSMAN CAMINERO

The tug of war continues, whether or not to proceed with a P43.9 million shoreline reclamation project that would pave with concrete Boljoon’s “postcard” beach in front of the 230-year-old Patrocinio de Maria stone church, a national cultural heritage site.

One of the key proponents is 2nd district Rep. Wilfredo Caminero.

He said the work was not for a reclamation but a measure to protect the national highway from being eroded by the sea.

He said the  proposed 20-meter strip from the end of the road covering the white sand beachfront is only meant to protect the national highway.

“There is an urgency to protect the national highway. This project is more for protection of the shoreline and the highway but in the process of doing it, there will be a portion that will have to be reclaimed in order to put up a foundation for that structure,” Caminero told Cebu Daily News.

Caminero

Caminero confirmed that he had lobbied to the DPWH central office for the “slope benching” of Ili Rock, and another project for “shore protection/ reclamation project” of the coast across the Boljoon church complex.

He said the project will have to be “redesigned.”

“For now, we need to secure a more detailed plan for the shore protection on how it should be implemented. The way I understand it, there will be a revision because the reclamation could cover a wider area.”

“There could be technical problems once we implement the old design because we haven’t studied the seabed conditions. We need to reduce the width of the area and make sure it could withstand earthquakes and typhoons,” Caminero said.

Critics of the DPWH project point out the lack of prior public consultation or an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for the project, aside from the defacement of the heritage site.

The DENR has intervened with a cease-and-desist order from the Environmental Management Bureau.

The recent typyhoon  Seniang battered south Cebu, but no major damage was reported in Boljoon town.

Asked if he had scientific studies to show the proposed reclamation would protect the highway from a storm surge, Caminero admits he had none.

“I can only see a very substantial effect on the marine ecosystem. If there is, EMB must tell us in detail so that we can come up with  mitigating measures,” Caminero said.

He said the role of the DPWH as implementing agency is to ensure there is  minimum environment impact.

“We are not doing this as a reclamation project because only the Cebu provincial government is authorized to do a reclamation. It should still be the DPWH who will implement the project. The role of the province is just to monitor and coordinate in the processing of documents,” said Caminero.

The Provincial Board last month expressed its support for the coastal projects in Boljoon, citing the need to stabilize Ili Rock from landslides and rockfalls that would affect motorists passing by the cliffside road to the town and residents living below.

EYESORE

What Boljoon coastal residents see today is limestone littering the shore.

Poblacion barangay captain Alexseus Celis said the mounds of limestone near the barangay hall was an eyesore for visitors and residents.

But the town has no other space to keep the excavated debris.

The excavated limestone is piled across the church next to the barangay hall, to be used for the future reclamation project.

“We don’t have another space to keep these but when there is a go signal we can easily dump it in the shore,” Mayor Derama said.

Congressman Caminero, however,  said that since there is a DENR cease and desist order for reclamation works pending proper documents, there shouldn’t be any activity that may violate the order.

“I cannot elaborate because I am not familiar with the CDO and do not know its conditions. But if there is an existing CDO they must be liable for that, I cannot elaborate for them,” Caminero told Cebu Daily News.

Lawyer Edmund Villanueva, a resident and former president of the Boljoon Heritage Foundation Inc, who has opposed the reclamation  project,  said he will continue to monitor the activities in Boljoon.

When Villanueva saw a photo of a dumptruck dumping limestone in the coastline behind the barangay hall, he asked the proprietor of QM Builders, who ordered it.

He was told no order was given.

“He (Engr. Allan Quirante) explained that there was no intention to dump in the coastline. He said the dumping was inadvertently done by his people and he promised to call their attention to stop it,” Villanueva said.