Valenzuela cleans up waterways

Valenzuela’s busiest waterways will soon be cleaned up, declogged and desilted through a P1.8-million financial aid package.

The 1.5-kilometer-long Canumay Creek has been chosen as the pilot area for the intensified cleanup drive to be carried out in five phases this summer.

Next in line are the waterways that pass through five of the city’s barangays (villages)—the Bagbaguin to Paso de Blas Creek, Paso de Blas to Canumay Creek, Canumay to Lingunan Creek, Lingunan to Veinte Reales Creek and Meycauayan River.

Initiated by the city’s River Waterways Management Office in coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Environmental Management Bureau, the project will be funded by a P1.8-million grant from the Office of Senator Pia Cayetano.

In a statement, Mayor Win Gatchalian said that the project was in line with the city government’s common goal of environmental protection “which is supplemental to our present disaster-preparedness schemes.”

The month-long cleanup project will be conducted by members of the city’s external services office such as the Waste Management Office, environmental police unit and Clean and Green.

According to Gatchalian, they were taking advantage of the summer season to do the simultaneous cleanup of waterways.

He cited reports showing that almost 50 percent of the country’s rivers were suffering from pollution due to domestic, industrial and agricultural waste.

He noted that destructive floods in the last few years had prompted local governments to revisit the Clean Water Act of 2005 and initiate cleanup drives.