Quarrying is a vital component of economy

The quarrying industry remains a vital component of the economy amid the administration’s ambitious infrastructure program, but regulations must be strictly enforced, said an official of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Interviewed during NEDA’s Tunog ng Progreso radio program over the weekend, NEDA Undersecretary for regional development Adoracion Navarro said areas like the Davao region— which registered a 10.9 percent growth in Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) in 2017— has been seeing robust growth in construction, as well as in mining and quarrying activities.

“There are a lot of infrastructure projects in the region and because there is a need for construction materials, their mining and quarrying industry also had a robust growth,” she said.

Quarrying activities in the country comprises extractive activities for building materials such as limestone for cement manufacturing, as well as gravel and sand, known as aggregates.

Navarro noted, however, that while the quarrying industry would be a huge contributor to the country’s infrastructure development program, environmental concerns brought about by unchecked quarrying operations should not be overlooked.

“We need the quarrying industry especially now that our economy is growing and we have a lot of infrastructure projects. But when there is an abuse to the environment, it must be corrected,” said Navarro.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) recently suspended quarrying operations in Rizal province as it may be one of the causes of floods in the low-lying areas of Marikina City and municipality of Taytay.

The stoppage order covered quarrying and crushing operations of plants in the municipalities of San Mateo and Rodriguez in Rizal.

“I agree with the decision of the DENR on that to determine if there was abuse (in quarrying operations),” said Navarro.