Butuanon river cleaned up

More than 100 sacks of plastic and other non-biodegradable waste were retrieved from the Butuanon River in Mandaue City during a half-day clean up drive initiated by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) yesterday.

“Most of these are domestic waste while some is from industries,” said Engr. Amancio Dongcoy, solid waste management coordinator of the DENR Environmental Management Bureau.

Dongcoy said they will encourage residents to be part of a regular river cleanup.

Mayor Jonas Cortes in the opening ceremony in a vacant lot in barangay Ibabao-Estancia pointed out the important role of barangays, people’s organizations and the youth in the project.

Garbage trucks from several barangasy in Mandaue City and barangay Talamban in Cebu City  picked up the segregated garbage.

Participating companies included, Dedon Manufacturing Inc., Metro Colon, Vicsal Foundation which donated P10,000 worth of cleanup materials, San Miguel Complex Yamamura Packaging Corp, Ginebra San Miguel, Profood International, Treasure Island Industrial Corp., Socor Construction, Treasure Island Industrial Corp., Cenapro Chemical Corp., D’RBG Marine Ex-import, Mande Nissin Corp., Cebu Premier Ind., Nutri-Asia Corp., Maritrans Recycler, Inc., Green Coil Industries, Petron Corp. and National Grid Corp.

Students from University of Cebu Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu, Paknaan National High School, Mandaue Central School and other schools also joined the activity. /Correspondent Norman V. Mendoza