Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista has ordered the inspection of business establishments to determine which is indiscriminately disposing or throwing their garbage into the city’s rivers, creeks, and other waterways.
The Mayor, during his regular executive committee meeting at QC Hall, underscored the importance of the inspection in the city government’s continuing effort to mitigate flooding in the city, especially during heavy downpour.
To date, the Mayor has already instructed the city’s environmental protection and waste management department and the market administration and development department to coordinate efforts to determine if these establishments are complying with the city’s environmental laws and regulation.
Based on a report submitted by the EPWMD, cases of indiscriminate dumping of solid wastes have already been noted along waterways near the Balintawak and Commonwealth markets.
In his directive, the Mayor called on the owners and administrators of concerned establishments to make adjustments as part of their compliance with the law. Such would include, the Mayor said, installing the necessary waste treatment facilities
The EPWMD has already mobilized about 120 community volunteers for the clean- up of the city’s rivers, creeks and esteros of garbage and other debris indiscriminately thrown in a bid to prevent the unnecessary loss of lives and properties brought about by flashfloods during heavy downpour, especially in the city’s low-lying areas.
To date, the city government’s Riverways Clearing Operations Project, formerly known as the QC “Sagip-Batis” program, has already been recognized as among the soundest practices in reducing the risk of casualties in times of disaster and other calamities that may hit Metro Manila during the rainy season.
The Quezon City river system consists of four major rivers and 41 water tributaries, traversing 101 of the city’s 142 barangays and encompassing a total length of 124 kilometers. Considered as the city’s longest river channel was the Tullahan River and the biggest, the San Francisco del Monte – San Juan River System. (Precy)
Posted by: Lynne Pingoy
