TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regional office here is waiting for the release of the additional P20 million funding from the national government intended for the rehabilitation of the a mined-out area in Samar.
DENR Regional Director Leonardo Sibbaluca told reporters in the weekly media forum “Express It At The Park” that his superiors in the central office promised to give the said amount this year after he was able to convince them of the urgency and necessity of their rehabilitation effort.
Sibbaluca said the amount set to be released by the DENR central office for th region would signify “a good start” for the continuing rehabilitation of the controversial abandoned mining area in Brgy. Bagacay, Hinabangan, Samar.
He said they had started the rehabilitation works with the P5 million that the DENR regional office here received lat year.
Sibbaluca said operations at Bagacay Mines stopped some 13 years ago and the area was left unattended and no rehabilitation effort whatsoever was made in the area, and this caused heavy siltation and polluted the Taft River.
“That should have been rehabilitated immediately after the stoppage of the mining operations. But it was only during the time of Sec. Mike Defensor that the government released fund for the said purposes,” Sibbaluca said.
Sibbaluca explained that the P20 million would already be a big contribution to their rehabilitation efforts because even with only “the P5 million fund given to us last year, we were able to make a lot.”
But Sibbaluca said that the P20 million would not be enough if they would follow the masterplan they have presented in the central office for the total rehabilitation of the area.
“based on our plan, we need around P60 million and this is just an initial amount. This if we really want to totally rehabilitate the mined out areas and clean the affected areas like the Taft River,” Sibbaluca said.
He said they are initiating, as planned, the vegetative and structural approaches for the said rehabilitation efforts.
The vegetative approach is the planting of tress of various species to control the movement of the soil that were moved during the mining operations that is now polluting the Taft River.
On the other hand, the structural approach is the making of concrete dams and retaining walls which needs a very \big amount.
“The structural measures that you have to implement in Samar would entail bigger funding because you have to source your sand all the way from Southern Leyte, thus very costly,” Sibbaluca said.
But he is hopeful that with the allotment of P20 million for the rehabilitation this year, the structural projects would also be started.
At present, only the vegetative approach has been undertaken as far as the rehabilitation efforts of the DENR is concerned.
“With the use of the P5 million last year, I have already started the vegetative process and have planted some plants which I see were effective and would fertilize the area,” Sibbaluca said.
