Council wants to stop sand, gravel quarrying in Butuanon River

CEBU CITY – The City Council wants the alleged illegal quarrying activities at the Butuanon River stopped.

The council recently passed Councilor Edgardo Labella’s resolution asking the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) and the Cebu City Mining and Regulatory Board (CCMRB) to stop the quarrying of sand and gravel at the river, particularly where a subdivision is being constructed.

The council fears allowing such illegal activities to continue will endanger the lives of the people around the area, particularly those living near the vicinity of Phase IV of the Villa del Rio Subdivision in Barangay Bacayan, Cebu City.

“It has not been too long ago that the same illegal and ecologically harmful activity resulted in the collapse of a concrete perimeter wall of the said subdivision posing a grave danger to the life and limb of nearby residents, although mercifully, no one was hurt at that time,” said Labella in his resolution.

Luck, chance

“It would be a tempting fate to continue to rely on luck or chance that disaster will still be avoided the next time a similar thing will happen,” he said.

The council hopes that the DEPW and the CCMRB will act on the matter as soon as possible.

Earlier, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Central Visayas identified Cebu City as having one of the most number of illegal quarrying operations because of the presence of many quarrying sites.

Areas where illegal quarrying are said to be rampant are in Barangay Talamban and the mountain barangays of Binaliw, Bacayan, Pit-os and Pulang-bato. (PDF of Sun.Star Cebu)