After dredging, Pasig River dirty again

MANILA, Philippines - Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) officials, after finding garbage floating in recently dredged stretches of the river yesterday, called on residents to refrain from throwing trash in the water.

“It is actually a vicious cycle that needs to be stopped. Unless the people will learn how to discipline themselves by refraining from throwing their wastes into the river, all our efforts such as the dredging project will be useless,” said PRRC executive director Deogracias Tablan Jr.

Officials said the success of the ongoing Pasig River dredging project, which is expected to be finished in July or five months earlier than the original December 2010 deadline, also depends on people’s participation.

To date, the PPRC’s 24-hour dredging operation has resulted in the retrieval of around 2.2 million cubic meters of contaminated riverbed sediment.

Officials said a large amount of solid waste was seen floating in the part of Pasig River cutting through Quiapo, Manila. They said riverside residents indiscriminately dumped garbage into the waterway.

“Through the dredging project, we have already prepared Metro Manila for the coming rainy season. We need the people to help us in ensuring that the metropolis will benefit from this landmark project,” he added.

Joining Tablan in the inspection was PRRC chair and ABS-CBN Foundation managing director Gina Lopez, who expressed her full support for the project.

They were assisted by other PRRC officials and engineers from the project’s Belgian contractor, Baggerwerken Decloedt en Zoon.

The Pasig River Dredging Project has been declared as a priority project of the national government under Executive Order 717 signed by President Arroyo in March 2008.