Baricuatro orders strict enforcement of pro-environment ordinance
BARICUATRO (FB)
CEBU CITY – Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro has instructed the strict enforcement of an ordinance that seeks to ensure stronger environmental protection.
Baricuatro directed the Provincial Environmental and Natural Resources Office to fully implement Section 3(c)(2) of Provincial Ordinance 2016-21 where quarry and mineral extraction permit holders are mandated to follow a set of requirements.
The ordinance states that all permit holders are required to plant at least one tree seedling for every cubic meter of extracted quarry and mineral resources. The requirement applies to both the host communities where extraction takes place and neighboring communities that may be affected by the activities.
Permittees must also donate healthy endemic and fruit-bearing tree seedlings to provincial nurseries and are also required to construct drainage canals at their extraction sites.
Completion of these drainage systems are a prerequisite for the re-issuance of any permits which will ensure that sites are prepared to manage water flow and reduce the risk of flooding and erosion.
Baricuatro issued the directive “in line with the recent flooding coupled by soil erosion and landslides in the province of Cebu.”