The government’s “Adopt-An-Estero (creek)” program is making steady gains in the effort to clean up waterways with the inclusion of three more private partners, including a popular pastry company, officials said on Saturday.
The addition of Goldilocks Bakeshop Inc.; Caramel Pearl Inc., a manufacturing plant based in Mandaluyong City; and real-estate conglomerate Aseana Business Park Estate Association Inc. brings to 430 the number of private companies now committed to the project.
Adopt-An-Estero seeks to rehabilitate at least 232 waterways across the country through partnerships with the private sector.
New partnerships
In a statement, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said the new partnerships augured well for the success of the program and its rapidly growing network.
He said Goldilocks and Caramel Pearl were working with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to help rehabilitate Ermitanyo creek, a 4.78-kilometer water system running through five barangays in Metro Manila (two in Mandaluyong City and three in San Juan City). The creek drains into San Juan River, a major tributary of Manila Bay.
Aseana agreed to clean up a kilometer-long stretch of Roxas Canal West, which connects the Baclaran church area and Barangay Tambo in Paranaque City.
It is also developing a “green commercial and leisure area” spanning 1.2 km on Roxas Boulevard in Manila, the DENR said.
The department has forged partnerships with 31 companies in Metro Manila to revive 21 of the capital’s major waterways under the program.
Unprecedented support
“The support we are getting from the private sector to clean up our creeks and waterways really is unprecedented,” Paje said. “This also proves that the public-private (sector) partnership for the environment under the Aquino administration is working quite well.’’
The partner companies have agreed to conduct surface cleanup and provide engineering solutions as trash traps and greening interventions, like planting, rip-rapping and the construction of linear parks along riverbanks. They are also expected to help in information and education campaigns in the surrounding communities.
On the other hand, the DENR, through the Environmental Management Bureau, will regularly monitor the water quality in the adopted creeks, assist in the establishment of waste recovery facilities, and go after polluters, among others.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Department of Public Works and Highways-National Capital Region (DPWH-NCR) will also assist the companies in the cleanup of creeks. DJ Yap