WHEN concerns regarding the environment are in people's minds, the Environment and Natural Resources Office (Enro) of the Pampanga Provincial Government pursues more strong programs and projects relative to these concerns.
Engineer Rosalia Adonis, head of the Pampanga Enro, emphasized that environment concerns form part of the main thrusts of the administration of Governor Eddie T. Panlilio.
"Alongside the economic and social services provided by the Panlilio administration, the governor also envisioned management policies that always considered environment protection and preservation."
From the year 2007 to the end of 2009, the Enro reported its accomplishments to the office of Governor Panlilio. These include the processing of Quarry Permitting System (QPS), part of which are the commercial sand and gravel permittees (CSGP), numbering 79; industrial sand and gravel permittee (ISGP), six; permit to extract and haul applicants (desilting), 80; permit to extract and haul applicants (scraping), 34; and government gratuitous permittee applicants, nine.
In May last year, the Enro staff presented the quarry permitting system and monitoring to Galing Pook committees, local government unit (LGU) representatives and other sectors, Adonis added.
Likewise, she reported such accomplishments as the processing of application for the accreditation of motor vehicles used in hauling of quarry materials; actual inspection of motor vehicles used in hauling of quarry materials; accreditation of heavy equipment used in loading quarry materials for quarry permittees and operators of quarry sites in Porac, Floridablanca, Bacolor, Sta. Rita and Mabalacat.
"Our office also facilitated the requests for filling materials, also the discharging of load from impounded trucks, the fine and penalties for violation amounting to P1,150,940; conducted 49 meetings and site inspections. We also facilitated the visit to the Porac quarry site of Israeli Ambassador Zvi Vapni," Adonis added.
According to Adonis, the Enro had a consultation meeting with the National Solid Waste Management (NSWM) secretariat in March 2008 while the Provincial SWM board-technical working group (TWG) was convened in May 2008.
Previous to its convening, the Enro had been conducting clean up drives such as those along the Pampanga River in Barangay Sto. Tomas, San Luis; Sta.Lucia in Sta. Ana; Mabalacat; and at the Provincial Capitol in observance of Earth Day.
"Apart from a capability building seminar for the Enro staff, we also conducted orientation-seminars on SWM and health care waste for chiefs of district hospitals, for utility workers and other employees of the Provincial Capitol, for teachers in the elementary and secondary school Science teachers in Pampanga's four districts, and for doctors, nurses, midwives, staff and utility workers of provincial and district hospitals in the province."
Other related activities held were a recycling event with the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in elementary schools in Minalin and Sto. Tomas towns and a Lakbay-Aral to the Montalban sanitary landfill.
"We also provided inoculant solutions and needle burners for the Diosdado Macapagal Memorial Hospital and the nine (9) district hospitals, office waste bins for segregation for all department offices of the Provincial Government and the 10 hospitals."
Adonis added that they continued the monitoring and inspection of the barangays the Enro had adopted to prevent, and eventually, eliminate the dumping of waste along the roads of Sta. Lucia and San Pedro and along rivers and creeks of Sto. Niño and San Juan, all in the City of San Fernando.
"There is still a lot of work to be done, and we intend to continue with our efforts even more vigorously, with the resources and support given by the Provincial Government and the cooperation of partner offices, groups and the public," Adonis concluded. (Eloisa P. Galang/Pampanga PIO)