THE chairman of the committee on social services has proposed the creation of a technical working group (TWG) in relation to the planned dredging operation of the Cagayan River.
On Monday's Cagayan de Oro City Council session, Councilor Reuben Daba said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has given the go signal to proceed with the dredging of the Cagayan River after the creation of a TWG.
"The DPWH has given us the go signal but we have to have a technical working group because the DPWH doesn't allow us to dredge because our resolution, asking them to dredge from the opening to somewhere upstream but they said that we have to have a technical working group so we can specify the area to where we can have rehabilitation," Daba said.
Daba said the TWG will consist of the representatives from the Engineer's Office, Cagayan de Oro City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office, City Tourism Office, as well as the regional offices such as the Environmental Management Bureau, Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), Department of Environment and Natural Resources, DPWH and Department of Tourism.
In a letter addressed to the City Council dated February 20, 2017, MGB-Northern Mindanao stated that they have "no objection provided that dredged materials will not be commercially disposed."
"Should there be commercial disposition of dredged materials then the policy and guidelines of the City Mining Regulatory Board shall apply," it added.
City Councilor Ian Mark Nacaya, meanwhile, suggested having a "mother entity or body that will deal with the functioning of the TWG."
"There must be a body above because TWG was created for the purposes of learning, and considering all angles within reach the direction is set by the mother entity. So there must be a mother entity," Nacaya said.
The dredging or, according to Daba, the rehabilitation of the Cagayan River has been a plan of the City Council since 2016 to address the problem of flooding in the city.
Daba said the activity is needed as rocks, boulders and silt have made the river shallow, adding that siltation has been the problem of Cagayan River.