Zamboanga del Sur governor worries as sand, gravel quarries shut down

MURKY WATER The heavily silted Labangan River cuts through a farming community in Labangan town, Zamboanga del Sur. Residents blamed the river’s bad ecological state to the quarry operations upstream. | PHOTO: Leah D. Agonoy

PAGADIAN CITY—Zamboanga del Sur Gov. Victor Yu expressed alarm over the recent closure of at least eight quarry sites in Labangan town saying this would result in shortage of sand and gravel supply for the construction of government’s infrastructure projects.

Last week, Labangan Mayor Eduardo Relacion ordered the shut down of quarry operations as part of a crackdown against massive unregulated extraction of sand and gravel along the upstream portion of Labangan River.

Relacion said they started with firms that have no business permit from the local government.The mayor said that of 14 mostly large-scale quarry operations in the town, only about five have business permits.

Those with no permits were operating along the villages of Langapod, Bagalupa, Bucong and part of Tawagan Norte, he said.

The local government’s crackdown on quarry operations is an offshoot of a protest action by communities lying along the river that have experienced floods, destruction of houses and farms especially during heavy rains.

The residents blame these to the supposedly unsustainable rate of extraction of sand and gravel, mostly supplied to contractors of government infrastructure projects.

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Moratorium needed

Subanen leader Braulio Anlimon said they are asking the government to impose a five-year moratorium on quarrying along Labangan River to give it enough time to heal its ecological system.

Labangan River has been the source of aggregates, especially in the provincial capital Pagadian City, helping fuel its construction boom.

Yu explained that if Labangan River is made off-limits to quarrying, the local construction industry would be starved of high-quality sand and gravel, and could raise the price of such materials for builders.

Other potential sources of aggregates are in distant towns like Tigbao, Dumingag, Mahayag and Bayog, but the quality from Labangan is far superior than those from these towns, he said.

Yu claimed that the quarry operations in Labangan approved by the Provincial Mineral Resources Board, which he chairs, have enough safeguards against overextraction, only that the municipal government chose not to issue them permits even as they complied with the requirements.

According to Relacion, most of the quarry operations that were shut down have links with Yu, a claim the governor readily admitted.

Yu told journalists that it was natural for them to maintain quarry operations as his family has long been engaged in the construction business even before they entered into politics.