AFTER more than a year, 25 quarry operators are again allowed to use backhoe to extract sand and gravel at Sapangdaku River in Toledo City.

But even though Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia granted last Tuesday their request to lift the suspension on the use of backhoe, the activities of the quarry operators in Sapangdaku are still under a three-month observation as recommended by Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau (MGB) 7 Director Roger de Dios.

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De Dios, in a presentation during a meeting with the governor, said a team from MGB 7 inspected Sapangdaku last July 14 and found that the river’s condition has improved following the year-long suspension of the use of backhoe, a type of excavating equipment.

He said there is an increased deposit on the riverbed, and the waterways and riverbank at Sapangdaku have been defined. He noted that quarry operations in the area have been restricted to the riverbank.

He said the use of backhoe was suspended because MGB 7 noticed “unsystematic, destructive, unsafe deep excavations and over-extraction” in the area.

Garcia said the Province is more than willing to cancel the permits of the quarry operators if their actions would contribute to future disasters.

Evaluation

The performance of the quarry operators will be evaluated after three months.

“Permittees have one more chance under a three-month observation and if they will not follow the conditions set, we are more than wiling to give up this income. We need to review each and every permit. Ang Sapangdaku, gubot pa sa lukot (The situation at Sapangdaku is chaotic),” she said.

De Dios reported that the collection of gross extraction fees from Sa-pangdaku from January to June reached P10.6 million, an increase of nearly 998 percent over last year’s P1 million.

But the MGB 7 director alleged that corruption is involved in the conduct of quarry operations at Sapangdaku.

In response to the allegation, Garcia told MGB 7 to present proof. “The integrity of the local government unit—including myself—is in question, so support your allegations. You could have premised it (that you heard talks)…but you have presented it as truth,” the governor said.

De Dios, however, said he cannot give the names of the complainants for their safety.

Recycled slips

In a separate interview, De Dios said MGB 7 has been receiving reports that the checkpoints in the area use recycled charge slips.

At the checkpoint, che-ckers don’t put stamps on the charge slips so they can recycle these, resulting in undocumented quarry transactions.

A checker should put a stamp on the duplicate copies of the charge slips, de Dios said.

To address the issue, Garcia said checkers would be changed every two weeks. Barangays should also help monitor quarry operations, she added.

The governor is offering a P1,000-reward to those who can provide information on violators. The money, she said, will be taken from her salary.

The MGB 7 has recommended that to ensure that quarry operations will be restricted to the riverbank, this portion of the river should be defined by its technical personnel, in cooperation with the Provincial Environmental and Natural Resources Office, barangay and Toledo City technical staff.

The MGB 7 also recommended that permit-holders be required to plant bamboo along the defined river banks in three months.

Individual commitment of permit-holders should be executed before an attorney to show absolute assurance that they would comply with their promise.

Penalties should be identified for each violation and these should be stated in a sworn statement to be prepared by the MGB legal officer and signed by permit-holder.

A cash bond of P50,000 per backhoe should be posted by the permit-holder in trust, either with the City or the Provincial Treasury, to answer for damages that may be incurred while operating the equipment.