Mandaue to spend P32M to rehabilitate river
The Mandaue City Government has allocated P32 million in the 2018 budget for the rehabilitation of a portion of Butuanon River as part of the preparation for the 4th International River Summit (IRS).
The amount for the river’s rehabilitation was included in the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (CDRRM) Office’s budget.
CDRRM Officer Felix Suico said they proposed a P134.254-million budget for their office for next year and it was approved by the City Council.
Based on the breakdown of the CDRRMO’s budget, P93.086 million will serve as mitigation fund while P41.168 million is for quick response fund.
Under the mitigation fund, the Butuanon River rehabilitation project for the IRS pilot area got the biggest chunk.
The pilot area is a 1.6-km. stretch from the Butuanon Bridge to the Cambogaong Bridge (the boundary between Barangays Umapad and Paknaan).
“The rehabilitation includes clearing, dredging and riprapping of the river,” Suico said in Cebuano.
Mandaue will host the 4th IRS in November 2018.
Earlier, the City Environment and Natural Resources Office said that the 62 establishments that discharge their wastewater directly into the Butuanon are the reasons the river is polluted.
In order to address this problem, the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) 7 created a group that would inspect the Butuanon River daily.
EMB 7 Director William Cuñado said the group, Butuanon River on the Move Monitoring (Bromm), will monitor the industries that have been throwing wastewater into the Butuanon.
Before the Bromm will do their task, the EMB 7 will first conduct an information and education campaign to all companies next week to tell them that the agency will do the regular onsite monitoring. EMB 7 told the companies to tap a private entity to treat their wastewater.
“I’m not saying stop the business, what I’m saying is stop the discharging of their polluted wastewater which is consonance with the law of Section 27 of the Clean Water Act,” said Cuñado. /