5 thousand to clean Lahug river

CEBU, Philippines — Around 5,000 volunteers will be helping the Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CCENRO) in clearing the Lahug River from waste.

CCENRO Head Ma. Nida Cabrera said there are numerous schools in the city that assured to join the cleanup activity today.

These schools include the St. Theresa’s College, Don Bosco College, Southwestern University and Abellana National School.

However, Cabrera could not give a definite number of students that will be taking part in the river cleanup.

“Nag-expect mi nga mas daghan karon sa Lahug River kay naa’y mga eskwelahan niapil, so wala pami kibaw pila ang gikan sa schools,” she said.

The other volunteers are from business process outsourcing (BPO), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and business establishments.

The river rehabilitation and restoration will start at 6:30 a.m.

The activity is led by CCENRO along with the Environmental Management Bureau, Department of Public Services and other concerned agencies.

Cabrera said the 5,000 volunteers will be assigned in five stations. In the station 3 and station 5 are workers from City Hall.

The other stations are composed of private volunteers. Every station has Barangay Environmental Officers (BEOs) that will guide and lead the clean-up drive.

CCENRO will also install bio-fences along the stretches of these rivers. These bio-fences, which are made of recycled plastic bottles that are wrapped in fishnets, will trap garbage that will strew the rivers.

The Lahug River is 16 to 17 kilometers long which covered the Barangays Tejero, Tinago, and T. Padilla.

Based on their initial assessment, Cabrera admitted that the Lahug River has more trash compared to Bulacao River.

She said most of the households situated in Lahug riverside don’t have septic tanks.  The wastes of these residents reportedly go directly to the river.

“Lahug, grabe ang problema mi karon diha.  Basin sa gipang-invite for technical conference, wala’y mga CR, riverside of Lahug, mostly wala’y CR. Naa’y CR pero diretso sapa,” Cabrera said.

Right now, there is an ongoing profiling of waste contributors in the river so that CCENRO can meet with them to address the problem.

CCENRO is also planning to establish septic tanks in the area so that residents’ waste will no longer go to the river.

“Naa nami nakontak nga mo-provide nato tanke ibutang didto, kalot and semento takuban siya.  Limpyo na ang mogawas na tubig. Ga-expect ta ang mga lugar nga walay kasilyas butangan ana,” Cabrera said.

She said those waste contributors will be called for a technical conference at City Hall to educate them in proper waste disposal.

“Issuehan citation ticket for technical conference.  Gitagaan og higayon nga mahibaw sila nga mao ni angay buhaton and dili angay molabay diretso sa basura,” Cabrera said.

The next river cleanup activity will be on March 16 at the Guadalupe River. — GAN (FREEMAN)