DAGUPAN CITY – The City Agriculture Office and its Bantay Ilog personnel started cleaning the rivers when it conducted river debris retrieval and clean-up drive, including the demolition of illegal structures and fish pens.
As of January, the team led by Marjorie A. Villanueva, Agricultural Technology, City Agriculture Office, has already retrieved 77 units of fish pen remnants like bamboos and nets; demolished 51 abandoned caretakers huts, 15 abandoned “surewin” fish traps, nine abandoned fish cages, 19 abandoned “skylabs” and one “batikwas”.
Villanueva disclosed that her team conducted the operations along the rivers of Lucao, Calmay, Tapuac, Salapingao, Pugaro, Pantal, Bonuan Gueset and Lomboy.
Her team is already out in the rivers at 8:00 a.m. daily from Monday to Friday in compliance with the river clean-up drive ordered by Mayor Belen T. Fernandez under the city’s ‘Sa Ilog Ko, May Pagbabago’ program.
Salapingao tops the record with 29 fish pen remnants retrieved, 19 caretakers hut removed three fish cages, two “surewins” and one “skylab” dismantled.
Villanueva and her team will continue with the clean-up drive in the rivers until all structures are gone and the rivers are cleaned from all fish pen and fish trap remnants.. (Joseph C. Bacani/CIO/Feb. 8, 2017)