Red tide alert up in Sorsogon City
By Roy Gersalia
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 19:33:00 11/20/2008
Filed Under: Agriculture
SORSOGON CITY, Philippines—The city council, in an emergency meeting here Thursday, declared a state of calamity in response to the clamor of fishermen for help due to the occurrence of red tide in Sorsogon Bay, Vice Mayor Ed Atutubo said.
He said the declaration was made to facilitate the release of the P16-million calamity fund to help fishermen who lost their livelihood due to red tide.
Councilor Ferdinand Laguna, chair of the committee on budget and appropriations, said the city government was planning to allocate an initial P1.5 million for food assistance to fishermen and would also allocate budget for livelihood through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, City Social Welfare and Development Office and the City Agriculture Office.
The ban on the gathering and selling of shellfish and mussels has been declared in Sorsogon bay as red tide causes contamination that could lead to shellfish paralytic poisoning.
|
