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Saturday, July 09, 2005
Tulabut: Quarry. Quarrel.
By Noel Tulabut
QUARRY, quarrel. There must be a meeting of the minds here.
Yes, particularly between the offices of the governor and the vice governor.
If one may notice, I did mention the offices and not the names of Governor Mark Lapid and Vice Goveror Joseller "Yeng" Guiao, after all, I believe that the feud is not personal, but a matter of conflict in policy and procedures.
I believe that the situation is not beyond remedy. Lighting up a peace pipe is still a possibility.
When we say "meeting of the minds", it means being happy somehow and being contented. And the way, the Capitol has been eking out and raking in much needed revenues from quarry operations so far, I would say that there is not reason to frown over what was produced so far.
A press release from the Provincial Government recently said quarry revenues collected within the province has already reached P19.8 million as of June 30 this year.
In the press statement, the Pampanga Quarry Task Force, led by Governor Mark T. Lapid, is targeting at least P2 to P3 million net revenue per month.
Earlier, Governor Lapid said he is targeting a P30 million net profit from the quarry business by the end of year. This means that the province needs to collect more or less P50 million gross revenues from January to December.
With the way remittances are being made from the quarrying field, I believe that the target will be met.
If the improved collections were a result of the privilege speech of Vice Governor Yeng Guiao in January this year, there is also no need to frown about the quarry fee issue, even if the actual collections are far cry from the projections of Natural Resources Development Corporation (NRDC) as earlier proposed.
From media point of view, I think the province is doing well in quarry collection this year compared to the figures that were yielded in previous years.
From media point of view, too, I think Yeng's courage to call on provincial authorities to make amends in the collection did Pampanga coffers some good.
He should not be faulted for that, and we should accept that there was a lag in previous years. In the same vein, too, that we should accept the improved collections as part of the serious efforts of the Capitol to generate much-needed funds to the provincial coffers.
Bird flu alert
Candaba Mayor Jerry Pelayo is not taking the threat of bird flu lightly. He is sounding an alarm as there's already a confirmed case in Calumpit, Bulacan which is just a stone's throw away.
And Mayor Pelayo deserves all the help that he can muster from the national and provincial government. Candaba is one of the centers of duck raising industry, with 350,000 heads, with 18 of its barangays are into duck-raising for livelihood.
Mayor Pelayo is setting up a monitoring team, as he should. He is also putting up observation towers, laboratories, checkpoints and other facilities in order to arrest the menace, as a matter of being pro-active.
(July 9, 2005 issue)
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