CAGAYAN – A memorandum of agreement (MOA) has been signed between the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), a provincial inter-agency committee on the rehabilitation of Cagayan River, and two private parties to dredge the longest river in the Philippines.
The MOA for the Cagayan River Restoration Project (CRRP) was signed on Thursday, December 10, in Tuguegarao City by DENR Cagayan Valley Regional Executive Director Gwendolyn C. Bambalan, Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba, as chairperson of the inter-agency committee on the CRRP, and officials of Great River North Consortium Inc., and Riverfront Construction Inc.
The signing of the MOA comes nearly a month after 13 persons were killed, and billions of pesos in property were lost after the Cagayan River burst its banks in the aftermath of typhoon Ulysses.
“This is a dream come true for our province. Matagal na nating pangarap ito (We have hoped for this for a long time). We need to dredge the Cagayan river to mitigate the flooding in our region. We also need to dredge Cagayan river to cope up our port of Aparri. It was closed because of the heavy siltation of the Cagayan river. Napakalaking tulong at oportunidad ito para sa ating lahat (This is a huge help and would provide opportunity for all of us). I can’t only imagine if we are inter-connected to our neighbours up north that became economic tigers in Asia and in the world because we need them and they also need us. We are never really connected to them,” Mamba said.
Under the MOA, the DENR shall conduct 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 dredging companies shall undertake the project without any funding from the government, and they would bear the full cost of the project, including the disposal of the dredged materials. They shall also be barred from processing the dredged materials in the Philippines, and shall dispose these outside the country’s territorial jurisdiction.
They shall also report to the DENR all findings of precious metals or objects which they may inadvertently come across, which may be of local or national interest.
During the MOA signing, Mines and Geosciences Bureau Regional Head Mario Ancheta issued the certificate of accreditation to the two companies as dealers, traders, and/ or retailers of minerals/mineral products and/or by-products.
The accreditation is solely for Cagayan River Restoration via dredging and shall be valid for two years. (With a report from PNA)