PARK IN LANDFILL
THE Cebu City government supports the Solid Waste Management Board’s plan to develop the the Inayawan sanitary landfill into a park and housing site.
“We must already start working on what actions are to be done”, said Mayor Michael Rama said.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and other volunteer groups should be involved in the site development, he said.
He said city residents are mastering segregation and acknowledged Councilors Nida Cabrera and Edu Rama for leading the war against waste.
“Where we are composting, where we are recycling, what we are doing with the residual (waste) and how are we preparing the whole area will be story to tell,” said Mayor Rama.
He expressed appreciation for the helpers, loaders and other volunteers who helped in the segregation.
He said he also plans to help urban poor communities along the South Road Properties (SRP) acquire decent homes./UPV TACLOBAN INTERN JOY CHERRY QUITO
‘RESPECT PROTECTED LANDSCAPE’
THE rehabilitation of Cebu’s protected landscapes should be prioritized, said Maximo Dischoso, Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Central Visayas (DENR-7) regional rirector.
In a dialogue with retired police general Tiburcio Fusilero and buyers and sellers of a 504-hectare lot in the Central Cebu Protected Landscape, he said “based on the DENR law, we will respect the adopt-a -mountain program to protect our forests.”
Fusilero was designated steward of the property in a memorandum of agreement with the DENR in 2000.
Conflict arose after Fusilero complained that newly planted trees were uprooted and structures were built in the protected zone.
Both parties agreed there should be an inventory of occupants in the area.
Buyers were ordered by DENR to stop structural development in the area pending a delineation project.
When the MOA was entered into in 2000, only 12 families were acknowledged by the DENR as original occupants. There are now more than 100 occupants.
Grace Chong, one of the individuals who purchased the lot said the area should be resurveyed as they could co-exist peacefully if they knew their boundaries.
Betty Rivero, one of the locators who bought a lot in the area questioned the validity of the Memorandum of Agreement signed by Fusilero and the DENR last 2000.She said the occupants were not consulted before the MOA was signed.
In an interview, Dischoso said that they would request a copy of supporting documents from the DENR central office regarding the signing of MOA with Fusilero “so her concerns would be answered.”
Dishcoso reminded the Cebu City assessor’s office to stop issuing tax declarations to lots in protected areas. “You should be guided. The DENR should be consulted first before the issueance of tax declaration.”/REPORTER CANDEZE R. MONGAYA