BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) of Negros Occidental created a technical working group (TWG) that will focus on the inspection of quarry sites.
SP member Andrew Montelibano said both the Provincial Environment and Management Office (PEMO) and the SP agreed to start the site inspection this week as they cannot yet proceed to the original plan for an aerial inspection.
The TWG, according to Montelibano, will specifically check if quarry operations in the hinterlands of the 3rd District have the necessary permits and compliant with government policies.
The decision to conduct a site inspection came after two consecutive SP hearings relative to massive floods that hit the cities of Talisay, Silay and Victorias and E.B. Magalona town last month.
High tide and siltation of creeks, rivers and their tributaries were initially seen as reasons for the sudden rise of water level in many low-lying residential and commercial areas.
But Montelibano said it would be better to check the source where the volume of water came from.
For his part, PEMO head Atty. Danilo Amisola, said he formed two teams to shortly conduct ground inspection.
They will start in the areas of the 3rd District that has 37 active quarry permit holders.
Amisola noted a common violation of permittees. “They operate outside their area where they are only allowed to quarry,” he said.
It’s a clear violation as it is tantamount to illegal extraction, he pointed out.
“Another violation is the use of a ‘recycled permit’ to transport their products,” Amisola said.
There are currently 185 quarry permittees in the province.
Amisola said in every local government unit and barangay, there is a quarry monitoring committee tasked to oversee the operations of all permittees and to ensure that the soil extracted under a special permit is not being abused.
“Extraction beyond what is allowed is a violation,” Amisola stressed.
He disclosed that PEMO recently cancelled permits of two quarry operators in Kabankalan and Binalbagan for violating thrice the stipulations in their permits regarding transport policy and illegal extraction.
“Several permittees are also under investigation for committing violations such as overloading,” the PEMO chief added./PN
