Saturday, July 28, 2007 Group forms body to monitor quarry operations By Marna H. Dagumboy
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- The Advocacy for the Development of Central Luzon (ADCL) has created a task force that would monitor quarry operations in Pampanga.
During the launching of Task Force Progressive Pampanga (TFPP), ADCL chairman Rene Romero said the task force is mandated to monitor sand and gravel business in the province.
Romero said among the initial ideas of the task force is making quarry operators pay directly to the depository bank of the Pampanga Provincial Government by swiping their automated teller machine (ATM) cards. Another is the use of a digital camera in the field where the gravel and sand are hauled, and along roads, to record the license plates of trucks.
Romero said the TFPP will create two committees for research and monitoring purposes and for a development plan in order to regulate the system of the sand and gravel business, which is the biggest income-generating resource of the Provincial Government.
Lawyer Ananias Jun Canlas will head the TFPP.
Vice Governor Joseller Guiao, for his part, has requested the TFPP and ADCL to help the Provincial Board to legislate a system on monitoring the quarry collection.
Guiao added that the group should be vigilant to avoid cases of graft and corruption and to prevent the lowering of the collection of quarry revenue in the province. (Marna H. Dagumboy)
