Environmental groups in Dumaguete City and the province of Negros Oriental are clamoring for a more proactive and firm stand among communities, with regard to reclamation projects and other issues related to the environment.
Environmental groups War on Waste, Kinaiyahan Inc., and the Friends of the Environment in Negros Oriental made the call during an environmental forum Saturday in the wake of the controversy over the illegal reclamation project of the City of Dumaguete at the Rizal boulevard.
A “Petition to Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo” is being circulated in Dumaguete, expressing the people’s concern regarding the environmental impact of the reclamation activity at the Rizal boulevard.
“We are concerned with the impact of the pollution in our municipal waters, our local fisheries, the biodiversity of our marine ecosystems, as well as the adverse effects on water and wastewater flow and the scouring of our shores,” the petition read.
“We decry the lack of transparency and public consultation on the project as required by various laws,” the signatories said.
They also demanded that the “project be halted, that the City conduct stakeholder consultations and a transparent process, a full environmental impact assessment, and the fulfillment of the City’s obligation to protect the environment under the Amended Fisheries Code, the Clean Water Act, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act,” among others.
Merci Ferrer, WOW-Negros Oriental co-convenor, in an interview, said another pressing concern is the reclamation project in nearby Siquijor province, undertaken by the local government unit.
Ferrer described the Siquijor reclamation projects as “alarming” although she could not give detailed information on it, saying that lawyer Gloria Estenzo Ramos, one of the forum’s speakers, was going to discuss it thoroughly in her talk.
Ramos is vice president of Oceana Philippines, and she speak on “Urgent Environmental Laws and People’s Rights to Citizens’ Suit”.
The topics discussed were environmental laws such as Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, RA 9275 or The Clean Water Act, and RA 8749 or The Clean Air Act.
Dr. Emmanuel Jorge, president of Environmental & Engineering, a California-based research group, spoke on “Thermal Waste to Energy Incineration and Open-Burning.” (PNA/Judy F. Partlow)
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