Former drug dependents join in clearing Maguindanao river of water hyacinths

DATU PIANG, Maguindanao (PNA) – To prove that they have reformed and are now productive citizens, more than 200 former drug personalities joined Moro rebels, policemen, soldiers, government workers and volunteers in removing water hyacinths under Datu Sajid Piang bridge here.

Clearing operations continued yesterday with more and more volunteers offering a helping hand.

Myrna Jo Henry, speaking for Humanitarian Emergency Action Response Team of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMMHEART), said 231 former drug personalities, armed with bamboo poles and machetes, volunteered to help in clearing the river of water hyacinth, which had already hardened, posing huge threat of flooding in low-lying communities downstream of Rio Grande de Mindanao.

For about two weeks, more than 1,000 volunteers have been removing, using chainsaw, poles and machetes, water plants with six feet of soil under it.

If not removed, the river bed will be filled with soil, and water will eventually spill over the banks and make their way to residential areas located alongside the Rio Grande de Mindanao.

Manual clearing of water hyacinth that dries up as days go by have started two weeks ago but workers were rushing against time as more water lilies from upstream continue to build up anew.

Henry said the manual clearing operations were being undertaken in batches to ensure that work will continue.

Over the weekend, more than 700 workers along with 570 members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) have cleared about 130 by 75 square meters of water hyacinth that posed flooding threats to residents.

Previous clogging of water lilies that were not removed or hopped into pieces had caused floods in nearby communities, including Cotabato City, the downstream of Rio Grande de Mindanao.

ARMM-HEART spearheaded the clearing operations manually in the absence of mechanical equipment to unclog the water plants below bridges in the marshland.

Henry said clearing operations continue every day to save communities from floods.

Participating in “bayanihan spirit,” Henry said, include volunteers from local government units of Datu Piang in Maguindanao and Midsayap in North Cotabato, Department of Public Works and Highways personnel police from Maguindanao and soldiers from the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

Henry said a two-week operation resulted in the clearing of 165 x 105 square meters of water hyacinth, or commonly called “kangkong.”