DENR: Dolomite in Manila Bay not washed out, only covered by gray sand
MANILA, Philippines — Environment officials on Friday sought to reassure a public divided over its controversial dolomite sand project, insisting that it had not been washed out and only piled by other materials.
The multi-million had strongly been opposed by environment groups who warned of its potential impact, while others have said that the funds could have gone to more pressing matters.
Assistant Secretary Darius Nicer said the dolomite had only been covered by "greyish sand" and other materials, describing claims as based on "speculation and raw conclusions" from an apparent change in the color of certain portions of the bay.
"There is no definite proof that any substantial portion of the dolomite beach has been washed away," he said in a briefing. "If you make a conclusion that the beach has been washed away, then it should be based on measurements, and volume metric measurements."
"The darkening of the beach is just a deposition of darker colored material on top of the white sand. Whereas the critics have concluded that the white sand has disappared," Nicer added.
Officials said geotubes have been placed to ensure retention of the white sand in the bay and lessen the impact of waves and currents.
Overall, the project cost the government some P389 million of taxpayers' money, with the department saying P28 million have been used for the purchase and transport of the dolomite from Cebu to Manila.
Malacañang has said that the funds could no longer be realigned for other purposes such as to aid in the country's coronavirus response, as the project is already ongoing.
But for UP experts, the DENR'S beach nourishment project will not solve the environmental problems present in the baywalk.
"There are no shortcuts to a cleaner environment. The use of crushed dolomite sand will not help solve the environmental problems in Manila Bay. At most, it is a beautification effort that is costly and temporary," the UP Marine Science Institute said.
The state university's Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology also warned that putting foreign sediments could disturb plants and habitats of animals in burying them and lowering oxygen in seawater.
“These outcomes endanger the biodiversity of the area," they said. "The polluted waters discharging to Manila Bay are already causing the degradation of its marine environment. The addition of sediments only hastens its deterioration."
Such claims had since been countered by government, with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau saying it would help in improving the bay. The health department has also said that the crushed dolomite could pose adverse lung reactions, only to change its tune later on as saying that with the clearance from DENR, the project will not likely cause harm.
The dumping of the dolomite has been put to a halt after an issue with the contractor of the project. DENR officials said they will leave it to the public works department and the Cebu provincial government to resolve.
Undersecretary Benny Antiporda, while admitting that the project has an aesthetic value, also claimed that it could save the lives of motorists passing through Roxas Boulevard.
"Talking about the white beach as an aesthetic only, we don't think so. In the past whenever there's a storm, trash and debris would pile from the bay putting the lives of motorists at risk," he said in mixed English and Filipino.
Still, the department said it has proposed to Congress a P1.3 billion budget for next year to continue rehabilitation efforts. The clean-up, they said, will stretch to other coastal areas of nearby provinces such as Cavite, Bulacan, Bataan and Pampanga.
Officials recognize that rehabilitating the iconic Manila Bay entails cleaning up esteros and creeks in the the National Capital Region.
Out of the 378 waterways in Metro Manila, the DENR said only 36 have been cleaned up so far from 2019 to early this year, with more than 512,000 cubic meter of dredged materials collected in its operations.
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