ILOILO City – To dramatize his determination to clean the city’s dirty coastlines, Mayor Jose Espinosa III plans to swim in the city’s waters, specifically in Arevalo district.
He does not want to do it alone, though. He plans to invite city hall employees to join him.
The City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO), however, issued a warning.
“It is not advisable to swim in those polluted waters. The level of coliform bacteria there had been high since 2005,”said CENRO chief Engr. Noel Hechanova, citing Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) data.
He suggested conducting water quality test (physico-chemical survey).
Espinosa said he was inspired by the government’s massive cleanup of Boracay Island last year and Manila Bay. He wanted these replicated in Iloilo City’s coasts.
This southern city has 26 coastal barangays stretching from Barangay Bito-on, Jaro district to Barangay Santo Niño Sur in Arevalo.
Espinosa would be issuing an executive order creating a task force for the cleanup.
He already directed the CENRO to enlist the help of environmental specialists, private stakeholders and international agencies.
“We have aerial photos showing the sorry state of some of our coastal areas,” said Espinosa.
He urged residents to take part in the cleanup.
According to Hechanova, the city government has a coastal resource management plan but limited resources were hampering its implementation.
“Considering our limited resources, ang ginaubra naton is raising public awareness lang anay,” he said.
Hechanova also stressed the importance of changing communities’ devil-may-care attitude towards the environment.
“We want them to appreciate the cleanliness of our surroundings,” he said./PN
