DENR-7'S 12-point agenda: Restoration of air quality in Metro Cebu tops items

Restoring to standards the air quality status in Metro Cebu topped the items in the 12-point agenda that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources yesterday presented and set to implement for Central Visayas.

DENR Secretary Angelo Reyes said, in a press conference, that he ordered all regional executive directors to formulate their respective 12-point agenda for their area of jurisdiction.

For Central Visayas, DENR-7 Environmental Management Bureau head Alan Arranguez said the current total suspended particulates (TSP) level in Naga town and Mandaue City has been found to be slightly higher that the standard of 90 micrograms.

Part of the DENR-7 agenda then would be to enforce the Linis Hangin Program, within the next five years, to reduce the TSP-level in these places while monitoring also the air quality in other areas of Metro Cebu.

Another list in the agenda is the effective management of major river basins so as to generate water resources that are free from contamination, provide more economic opportunities, and control flooding.

DENR-7 would monitor and prevent firms from dumping wastes and polluting waters so that the biological oxygen demand level, specifically in Butuanon River and Guadalupe River, would be reduced.

DENR-7 would also promote the improvement of solid waste management in the region, and already the agency took the first step yesterday through the Recyclables Collection Event.

The forest boundaries in Cebu and Negros Oriental provinces, estimated at 2,646 kilometers,

would also be delineated to ensure that these are protected, the DENR-7 said.

Other key points in the agenda were aimed at sustainable exploration and development of the country's natural wealth, and the promotion of social equity and protection of communities. - Noreen B. Napoles