DAVAO City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) head Ivan Cortez urged environment agencies to strictly monitor quarrying operations in the city to prevent overquarrying.
In an interview with SunStar Davao, Cortez said that most of the quarrying activities submitted for approval in the City Council are located along the riverbanks.
"Kasi pag sa riverbanks, naay constant supply ana due to erosion that happens tungod anang bato na muligid unya mukatag ang sapa. There is a purpose why we allow those along the riverbanks, (Because in the riverbanks, there is constant supply due to erosion that happens from stones going to the river and which causes it to widen)," Cortez said.
"Ang akin lang is the environment agencies that should be headed by the Cenro (City Environment and Natural Resources) is really to monitor because if they overquarry, they will compromise the filtration process of the rivers," he added.
Cortez said the Local Zoning Board of the city has been requesting Cenro for a consolidated list of quarrying applications in the city, those with existing permits and applying for new permits.
"We need to find where they are in the map to avoid conflict in the future. And also for proper monitoring," he said.
In 2015, the CPDO halted the applications for quarrying operations due to finalization of terms of references for application requirements.
However in 2018, the City Council approved about a hundred quarry applications for additional allowable use under committee on environment chair Councilor Diosdado Mahipus. This prompted other city councilors to express alarm over excessive quarrying and its long-term effects on the environment.