DENR-7 officials, employees told to implement river rehab programs

Taking their cue from Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, officials and employees of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Central Visayas (DENR-7) are now finalizing their rehabilitation plans to ensure that rivers in the region are restored to its original status and kept clean.

Gilbert Gonzalez, DENR-7 director, on Monday directed all his key officials “to re-energize law enforcement and spearhead aggressive efforts to implement immediately the cleaning up of rivers in Central Visayas.”

“We have to do our best to deliver what is expected of us. We have to finalize our river profiling and river classification activities, come up with all the necessary data and sit down with partner LGUs, civil society organizations, other national government agencies and local communities to lay down the plans and start implementation immediately,” he said in a message which he delivered in a gathering of DENR-7 officials and employees on Monday morning.

A brief of Gonzalez message was posted on the Facebook page of DENR Central Visayas at around 4 p.m. today.

While highlighting the need to ensure river quality management, Gonzales also asked his subordinates “to strengthen and step up implementation of programs on protected area management, ecotourism, watershed management and geohazard assessment in all four provinces in the region.”

During his Cebu visit for the 4th international River Summit on November 22, Cimatu directed all DENR regional directors to ensure the rehabilitation of all rivers in the country or else they will be removed from their posts.

Those who will be able to live up to his instruction were promised with promotions.