Mayor Sara wants intensified monitoring of quarry operations

DAVAO CITY – Mayor Sara DuterteCarpio has directed the police and Task Force Davao to intensify their monitoring in communities which have been hosting quarry operations, and assist in the checkpoints put up by the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO).

This, after the local chief executive was alerted about quarries operating at nighttime, evading the payment of local taxes. Moreover, many of these quarry operators were reportedly not registered with the City Government, Councilor Danny Dayanghirang said in an interview on Monday.

The councilor said the city loses half of the potential revenues from quarry if theseclandestine operations continue. According to him, the city’s share of revenues from quarries comprises 10 percent of the total annual budget.

He said the mayor ordered the CENRO to monitor the trucks coming in and out of the city to prevent the illegal transportation of sand and gravel, a big challenge on the goal of the city to maintain environmental sustainability.

“Mayor Inday was alarmed last week about the extraction of sand and gravel because we noticed quarry operators are operating at nighttime where there was no collector, so you will see a lot of trucks bringing in sand and gravel,” Dayanghirang said.

He said reinforcements from local authorities are necessary since most of the personnel from CENRO abandon the checkpoints due to presence of armed groups in the host communities

Dayanghirang said the city currently has 53 registered quarry operators in areas Callawa, Mandug, MatinaPangi, Buhangin, and Paquibato, while there are 64 new applicants seeking approval from the City Council.

“If we keep on allowing them, if you allow 117 quarry operators, can you just imagine how they will be hauling extracted materials every day for a year? That can cause problem like the destruction of a road,” he said.

He added that quarrying beyond the capacity of the rivers might also worsen the flooding because “the flow of water may come very fast.”

“That theory, the way they look at it, is wrong because the more you give way of the flow of water the more current and the more water because there will be no more materials that will slow down the flow of water,” he said.

Dayanghirang said four applicants for quarry operations were rejected last week for failure to present Environmental Compliance Certificates (ECCs) and non-compliance with other requirements.

“I think the council will continue rejecting them… they cannot be granted of any permits without passing the city council.,” he said.