ILOILO CITY-- Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Sr. has ordered a temporary suspension on the issuance of new sand and gravel permits in the province's five major river systems.
The suspension order covers the Aganan, Jalaur, Sibalom, Suage and Ulian major river systems, said Defensor in a press conference on Thursday.
The governor said he signed on Wednesday Executive Order (EO) 227, declaring the temporary suspension or moratorium on the issuance of commercial sand and gravel (CSAG) and industrial sand and gravel (ISAG) small-scale mining covering new areas within major river systems of the province.
According to the order, “unabated extraction of sand and gravel along these river systems has resulted to the damage and deterioration of the structural integrity of bridges, irrigation dams, other public and private infrastructures as reported by the monitoring team of the National Economic Development Agency (NEDA) VI, the status of the government infrastructures were damaged due to the massive extraction.”
Defensor said that he also issued two other executive orders in line with quarrying. One is EO 226, an order regulating the use of backhoe in the extraction of sand and gravel materials in certain areas within river systems; and EO 225 which created an inter-agency task force for rapid river assessment of the major river systems in the province.
Arthuro Cangrejo, chief of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO), said that there are 51 active quarry permit holders in the five major river systems: 19 in Jalaur; 14 in Ulian; seven each in Suage and Aganan; and four in Sibalom river.
He said that the task force on Thursday postponed assessment of the Suage river due to the water’s high level. It was tentatively reset to August 31. The plan is also to assess four other rivers in the four succeeding Thursdays.
Under EO 225, the task force is responsible in assessing and profiling of the river systems in the province to determine the extent of the effect of the continuing sand and gravel extraction; determine the volume of materials still available as well as alternative sources of sand and gravel for ongoing and future construction projects.
“We will ask for supplemental budget for additional personnel to implement all ordinances, rules and regulations, executive orders issued in pursuant to or related to quarry operations,” Defensor said.
He also planned to gather all barangay captains in the province to remind them of their obligations to protect the environment. (PNA)
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Topic: Iloilo province suspends issuance of quarry permits (Read 223 times)