Fisherfolk to eliminate water hyacinth

For a start, we will be coordinating with 10 to 20 fishermen to map out our strategies

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will tap the services of about 100 fishermen to help clear tributaries, including the 27-kilometer stretch of Pasig River and Laguna Lake, of water hyacinth.

Undersecretary Benny Antiporda will meet with fisherfolk at the office of Taytay, Rizal Mayor Joric Gacula on 26 October, to discuss the strategy on how to clear waterways of water lilies.

“For a start we will be coordinating with 10 to 20 fishermen to map out our strategies,” Antiporda told the Daily Tribune in a phone interview.

Fishermen will also earn additional money from the project as they will be paid P150 for every kilo of water hyacinth they will harvest.

The so-called problem plants can be used as raw materials for paper, bags and mats. Some are added to compost pits.

Antiporda went with an inspection team on Monday at the Napindan Channel along Pasig River to survey the situation, which has also disrupted the services of the ferry system.

Laguna Lake Development Authority assistant general manager Generoso Dungo, River Basin Control Office Deputy executive director Rabindranath Quilala and representatives from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), the local government of Taytay and Department of Public Works and Highways Region 4A joined the inspection.

The team drafted an initial plan to remove and finally control the increasing volume of water hyacinth as well as other solid wastes on the Pasig River.

Antiporda also said that they are coordinating with recycling companies.

“We are also calling on people who may have uses for the water hyacinth. Contact DENR,” he said.

An average of 150 cubic meters of water hyacinth are being recovered daily by the MMDA. One dump truck is equivalent to 12 cubic meters while one long dump truck can hold 32 cubic meters. Five to seven trucks collect daily.

The collected plants are taken to a drying area, where local government units and nongovernmental organizations pick them up for their livelihood programs.