Volunteers for river cleanup

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu City government is in need of volunteers to participate in the cleanup drive for three “biggest and dirtiest” rivers in the city located in barangays Bulacao, Lahug, and Guadalupe.

Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CCENRO) Head Ma. Nida Cabrera said her office is closely coordinating with Department of Environment and Natural Resources-7 for the cleanup drive.

On February 23, Cabrera said the city, DENR, and volunteers will have the cleanup along the 11-kilometer stretch of Bulacao River.

On March 9, she said they will do the cleanup along the Lahug River which includes Tejero Creek, Tinago Creek, and T. Padilla Creek.

On March 16, the city, with the help of volunteers, will focus the cleanup along Guadalupe River.

Aside from the cleanup, Cabrera said her office will also install bio-fences along the stretches of these rivers.

As for the Bulacao, she said there will be three bio-fences for every barangay. Bulacao River covers barangays Inayawan, Bulacao, Toong, and Pamutan.

“Once ma-install na ang bio-fence, makahibaw nami kon asa ang cluster sa river ang nakacause sa hugaw. Mag-information dissemination pod mi during the cleanup para dili makaingon nga wala sila kahibaw nga manakop na gyud mi kon kinsay maglabay og basura sa sapa,” Cabrera said. (Once the biofences are installed, we will know which sector of the river caused the pollution.  We will have information dissemination during the clean up because we will arrest those who will be caught throwing wastes into the river.)

These bio-fences, which are made of recycled plastic bottles that are wrapped in fishnets, will trap garbage that will strew the rivers.

Last Friday, Mayor Tomas Osmeña posted in his Facebook page and announced the need for volunteers for the clean-up drive of the city’s rivers.

“Many people have been texting me asking if we can have a clean-up drive for our rivers. Of course! As requested, the Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CCENRO) is organizing a clean-up drive starting with the Bulacao (Feb 22), Lahug (Mar 9), and Guadalupe (Mar 16) rivers. Thanks to our friends in the private sector, free snacks will be provided to our volunteers,” reads a portion of the post.

Cabrera said the office decided to move the initial schedule February 22 to February 23 since the latter is a Saturday, a better schedule which probably would entice several volunteers.

For those interested volunteers, she said they can go to her office. As of now, there are five organizations that have expressed interest to join the cleanup drive. — MBG, (FREEMAN)