Manila Zoo temporarily closed for sewerage system rehab

TOXIC FLOW Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu peers over the metal fence enclosing the smelly, murky ditch connecting Manila Zoo and Manila Bay, which the environment department plans to rehabilitate “a la Boracay,” during Friday’s inspection. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada has ordered the temporary closure of the Manila Zoo to give way for the rehabilitation of its sewerage system.

Estrada said the Manila Zoo was tagged by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as a “major pollutant” of Manila Bay.

“According to (DENR) Secretary Roy Cimatu, the zoo had been draining untreated sewage into one of the estuaries leading to the bay,” the order dated Jan. 21, 2019 read.

With this, the Office of the City Administrator and the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) “have recommended that the zoo be temporarily closed to the public to give way for proper assessment and study.”

The DEPW and the Department of Public Services (DPS) were instructed to “submit a program of work for the construction or installation of water treatment facilities or sewerage treatment plans for the Manila Zoo and other [c]ity facilities.”

The order further asked that “full support and cooperation” from concerned agencies be extended to the national government for the rehabilitation of the Manila Bay.  /muf