By Rey Anthony Chiu
Philippine Information Agency
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) authorities here in Bohol insisted that the recent verbal spat between the government agency and William Granert is nothing but about money.
The Soils and Water Conservation Foundation’s (SWCF) Executive Director Granert however denied the claim in a letter to a local paper in Bohol.
Granert said the idea of the SWCF-and Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape (RSPL) Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) handling the funds came from New Zealand eco-tourism consultant Ross Corbett.
RSPL is Bohol’s part of the National Integrated Protected Areas Systems and covers some 29 barangays which is said to be the last frontier of the molave, and showcases local biodiversity in the forest’s flora and fauna. It has also been cited as one of the best bird-watching sites and environment educational venues.
PENRO Eduardo Inting however insisted that the Granert has explicitly recommended in a report which Inting did not elaborate, that funds be coursed directly to SWCF.
Maintaining that SCWF was questioning funds mismanagement by the agency, Granert said NZAid was supposed to fund a P10M grant for the RSPL biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction projects.
At the Kapihan sa PIA, Protected Area Superintendent Leonardo Elle said the NZAid is not just funding RSPL but Mayon, Hundred Islands, Lake Sebu and Pamilacan as well.
Granert, according to newspaper reports was asking for the P10M New Zealand grant for RSPL.
Putting the heat on Granert, former PENRO Arius Ilano explained that the grant, which was coursed through government has to be disbursed following government regulations and accounting procedures.
So that we can assess how much has the project gone, we even asked from the SWCF, one of the program implementers to give us the status of the projects so we will know how much of the NZAid has gone, but they could also not provide us with the records, Ilano stressed.
SWCF is just one of the project implementers of the project, together with the DENR-PAMB, headed by the DENR regional executive director.
Granert claimed in a report to the NZAid evaluation team that there was little done on the P1.3M first year of the project fund release.
The next year, NZAid again released P1.7M, while more funds could have been released until the grant was stopped for “questionable use of funds and implementation methods.â€
“How come, they would be alleging mismanagement of funds when the project is under a project management team to which they also belong?†DENR asks.
The RSPL-PMT includes the DENR, the provincial government, municipal government and SWCF, the DENR at the Kapihan claimed.
Instead of saying bad things about the project, we are calling on Bill Granert and SWCF to sit down with us and iron out the issues, the DENR authorities urged.
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