GOVERNOR Lilia Pineda on Monday, October 1, thanked Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu for lifting the suspension of quarry operations in Pampanga.
Pineda confirmed that quarry operations have already resumed in Pampanga.
The provincial government of Pampanga, through its Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office, made an appeal after Cimatu ordered on September 21 the suspension of all quarrying activities in the country.
Cimatu’s order was issued following the landslide in Naga City, Cebu that killed 77 residents. Scores also remained missing as of Monday.
“We are thankful for the lifting of the ban,” Pineda said.
She said vital waterways and river beds will now be cleared of sand as quarrying in Pampanga is mainly done in riverbeds, not on the slopes of hills or mountains.
The governor said quarrying in Pampanga helps declog rivers of sand and lahar materials that have been deposited by the 1991 eruption and subsequent lahar flows from Mt. Pinatubo.
Pineda said the quarry materials, if not removed, can cause problems and damage bridges and other structures.
With Cimatu’s order lifting the suspension, some 90 percent of the companies that were suspended after Typhoon Ompong caused a number of landslides may now continue operations in La Union, Pangasinan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Zambales, Batangas, Rizal, Camarines Sur, Misamis Oriental, Iligan City and Davao City.
Art Punzalan, Pampanga Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer, said a big percentage of gravel and sand in Metro Manila comes from Pampanga.
Pampanga’s vibro sand is the leading preferred material for big and high-end constructions, according to Punsalan.
Many of the government’s Build Build Build projects Metro Manila and in Pampanga also depend on materials from the province’s quarry sites, the environment officer added.