P250 M Sought for Rehab of Marikina Watershed
By MARVYN BENANING
October 5, 2010, 5:48pm
Page B-10
MANILA, Philippines — The La Liga Policy Institute (La Liga) has asked Congress to approve a budget of P250 million for the rehabilitation of the Marikina Watershed to prevent a repeat of the disastrous floods brought about by typhoon Ondoy last year.
La Liga, a nongovernmental organization involved in environmental issues and concerns, is also calling on the appropriations committee of the House of Representatives to approve an additional budget of P7.4 billion for the environment and natural resources sector.
Jonathan Ronquillo, La Liga environment campaigner, said apart from dredging the Laguna de Bay, the rehabilitation of the Marikina Watershed is a must since a total of four million metric tons (MMT) of silt from the watershed down to the tributaries of the Pasig River and then on to Napindan Channel, based on the estimate of Environment Secretary Ramon J. Paje.
Paje said he wants Baggerwerken Decloedt en Zoon (BDC), the Belgian firm that bagged the contract to dredge the 94,900-hectare Laguna de Bay to assist in upland reforestation before a notice to proceed (NTP) could be issued to the company for the P18.7 billion project.
Latest reports indicated BDC is amenable to the idea, along with the mayors of Pasig, Marikina, Cainta and San Mateo, all of whom have pledged to assist in every way they can to reforest the watershed, only 20 percent of which is actually in Marikina.
Marikina sustained the heaviest damage due to typhoon Ondoy, with scores of people killed, thousands uprooted and billions worth of property and livelihood lost.
Ronquillo said the extra P7.4 billion is needed since the past administration allegedly failed to arrest the continuing degradation of the environment. He added the new administration is now compelled to do some catching up, not only to hit important Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets related to Goal 7 or Environmental Sustainability, but to prepare the country from more intensifying typhoons, like Ondoy and Pepeng, or long-season of drought.
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#1 by rosalindprazeres on October 25, 2010 - 8:41 AM
Just wanted to take a moment and say hello to everybody. Looking forward to the site and what everyone today has to say.