Dredging of Cagayan River seen to start soon
BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — Rehabilitation of the Cagayan River is seen to start soon with a Memorandum of Agreement already signed between the environment department and two operators.
The agreement was sealed on December 10 by DENR Cagayan Valley Regional Executive Director Gwendolyn Bambalan with the Great River North Consortium represented by its managing head Antonio Talaue and Riverfront Construction Inc. led by its president, Feng Li.
Bambalan, vice chair of the Inter-agency Committee on the Restoration of the Cagayan River said that the dredging activities will be at no cost to the government as "the proponents will be shouldering all the expenses related to the dredging activities."
The MOA stipulates that the DENR shall conduct a survey of non-metallic and metallic resources in the River Dredging Zone to determine metallic and other valuable materials in economic quantities. It shall also monitor the operation of the operator-dredger to ensure faithful compliance with applicable environmental laws, rules and regulations.
The contractors — Great River North Consortium and the Riverfront Construction Inc. — shall dispose of the dredged materials and will not process them for disposition abroad.
They shall also report to the DENR any and all findings of precious metals or objects which they may inadvertently come across which may be of local or national interest.
Mines and Geosciences Bureau Regional Director Mario Ancheta has issued a certificate of accreditation to the two companies as dealer, trader and/ or retailer of minerals/mineral products and/or by-products. The accreditation is solely for the Cagayan River Restoration project and will be valid for two years.
President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017 ordered the dredging of heavily-silted rivers in the country including the Cagayan River, the country's longest and biggest river.
Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu issued DENR Administrative Order (DAO) 2020-07 in February rationalizing dredging activities in heavily-silted river channels in the country to help restore them their natural state and water flow.
Rehabilitation is also seen to reduce flooding and to protect and properly manage the disposition of sand in those rivers.
The DAO also requires a holder of an approved dredging clearance to apply for an authority to dispose extracted material from the River Dredging Zone through a MOA with the DENR Regional Office.
It further states that in order to open up heavily-silted river channels, areas starting from the coastline of river deltas extending all the way upstream, in accordance with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Dredging Master Plan, shall be designated as exclusive River Dredging Zones by IAC.
Bambalan said Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba in June proposed river restoration through dredging activities. A week later, Cimatu approved the proposal.
The River Dredging Plan covers 30.8 kilometers as a River Dredging Zone.
Bambalan said the commitee will make sure "all activities pertaining to dredging will be as compliant as possible to all the requirements imposed by the government particularly in ensuring environmental considerations."
All requirements, the DENR Region 2 said, were met such as the issuance of Dredging Clearance by the DPWH and the Environmental Compliance Certificate by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).
Gov. Mamba, who chairs the IAC said “it is a dream come true” for Cagayan, citing dredging the river will mitigate the flooding in the Cagayan Valley region. He said dredging the river will also lead to the opening of the Port of Aparri, which, according to him, has been closed because of heavy siltation.
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