White sand extraction exposed

 BACLAYON, BOHOL , Philippines  – Extraction of white sand deposits along the coastline between barangays Taguihon and Guiwanon of this town allegedly pulled off by workers of a beach resort has been exposed by concerned residents and fishermen here.

To find out if the allegation was true, officer-in-charge Leonilo Lafuente of the Bohol Environment Management Office (BEMO), personally inspected the area yesterday.

Lafuente saw for himself the suction of sand deposits by a mechanized gadget, and then hauling these to a site, a few meters of the shoreline fronting the resort. A fisherman told The Freeman that the activity has been going on for a number of days already.

Resort operations manager Jojo Garan, who was apparently monitoring the hauling of sand when BEMO personnel arrived at the area, confirmed that the sand suction was indeed to spruce up as part of the resort development.

When Lafuente started to inquire about the documents, like Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) or development plan, Garan could not present any of these. He referred the matter instead to an engineer of the resort, reasoning out that he was not the right person to ask about the details of the project plan.

Lafuente also took notice that the concrete structures were mounted on the shoreline, of which Garan has described as preventing sand deposits from being washed out.

The BEMO official however told Garan that mounting such structure would be destructive in the long run, like what happened to a resort in Panglao town where concrete structures were constructed for the same purpose.

Fishermen also complained that the 20-meter salvage zone as public access seemed being closed to public when they passed by to make fishing preparations to sea or take a walk on the beach.

Garan quickly denied this, insisting that anybody could pass through the coastline and no one was barred from doing so.

The fishermen, who already experienced being called upon by the resort security guard when passing the resort, did not agree with Garan’s response.

The resort management would cooperate with the officials concerned on how to deal with “development” activities of the resort and would be willing to discuss this in a proper forum, Garan told BEMO.

Extraction and hauling of sand deposits within and from the seabed have been strictly prohibited by law. The resort failed to present any permit, which must be signed by the governor prior to extraction activities.

Lafuente said the province has discouraged sand extraction from the seabed, based on the provisions of the Bohol Environment Code of 1998.

Called up on his phone yesterday, forester Nestor Canda, OIC of the DENR provincial office, vowed to take action against this illegal activity, especially the dredging and hauling of sand deposits here, that fishermen described as devastating and detrimental to sea grass and other marine lives in the area.  (FREEMAN)