‘Give bottles to save waterways’

TO intensify its operations, the Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CCENRO) is asking the public to donate to its office empty plastic bottles, which will be used to make the bio-fences that trap trash in waterways.

The bio-fence is submerged underwater to act as garbage-collecting barriers, and help prevent trash from going to the open sea and harming marine life.

“Nag-request na mi sa katong mga naay botelya; any size among dawaton. Gani, nahunong mi sa Barangay Pasil kay nagkuwang gyud sa botelya (We’re requesting from those who have bottles; we accept any size. We stopped in Barangay Pasil since we ran out of bottles),” said CCENRO Chief Nida Cabrera.

Cabrera said they are running out of resources since they are only relying on donations from restaurants, hotels and bars, among others.

The City Government currently has no budget for the bio-fences.

To sustain the program, Cabrera said they will turn over the project to the barangays.

Bio-fences have been installed in Barangays Pasil, Sawang Calero, Ermita, San Roque and Tejero.

Since last Sept. 19, the bio-fences installed in different waterways in the city have already collected 26 tons of garbage.

Cabrera, though, stressed that the bio-fences and eco-bricks installed in waterways are just “immediate responses” to water pollution in the city.

“It would be better if people refrain from throwing garbage in bodies of water. Cebu City’s water supply is critical. CCENRO just starts the initiative, but it takes everyone’s cooperation and effort to make it sustainable,” she added.

There are 10 river systems in the city, with Guadalupe River being the biggest and highly at risk because of garbage and human waste.

CCENRO records showed that it issued 16,473 citation tickets from January to August 2018.

Topping the list of arrests made this year were for violations of the smoking ban and anti-littering ordinances. RTF

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