CLEAN-UP. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu has ordered a massive clean-up to rehabilitate the highly silted Kinalumsan River in Cebu City’s south area. A five-day cleanup drive, which started on Tuesday (Aug. 11, 2020) is spearheaded by the Cebu City Department of Public Services and City Environment and Natural Resources Office with the participation of Bantay Dagat and River Troopers. (Photo courtesy of DENR-7)
CEBU CITY – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Central Visayas (DENR-7) has started rehabilitating the highly contaminated Kinalumsan River and coastal area of Barangay Mambaling here.
This, after DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu, who has been overseeing the government’s Covid-19 response here, saw the bad state of the area and instructed a massive clean-up there.
The cleanup drive which started on Aug. 11 is part of the DENR-7 and the Cebu City government’s plan to rehabilitate the highly silted river in the southern barangay.
Cimatu had personally ordered the regional office through the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) and the local government to conduct a massive cleanup alongside other sustainable activities to revive the river.
“A dirty river or any water body present in the area is not conducive to the healing process that we are all aiming and working for,” DENR-7 quoted Cimatu as saying in a statement released to the press.
The cleanup drive, spearheaded by the Cebu City Department of Public Services and the City Environment and Natural Resources Office with the participation of Bantay Dagat and River Troopers, is being conducted for five consecutive days.
“All private establishments located near and in the area will also be coordinated to forge more partnerships and ink an agreement to do the rehab process together. A webinar will be conducted for the Barangay Environment Officers, River Troopers, and Sangguniang Kabataan leaders as part of the sustainable approach in the process,” the DENR-7 said.
The agency is conducting an action planning workshop within the week to identify the applicable interventions for the rehabilitation of the bodies of water.
EMB-7 Regional Director Lormelyn Claudio expressed concern on the effect of the contaminated river to the health of the residents in the area.
The river’s deterioration has reached the point where “it has posed threat to the safety and health of the communities along its banks, and which the residents and the government can no longer address effectively without help from the non-government sector,” Claudio said. (PNA)
