Bacolod City – The Tamburong Creek, which is located inside the protected areas of Barangay Biak-na-Bato in La Castellana, Negros Occidental, is in need of dredging after the debris from mudflow has hardened, which can cause floods within the barangay and its neighboring areas, Barangay Chairman Joselito Martinez Jr. recently.
The chairman disclosed that they had already submitted a letter to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), asking for clearance to start dredging the buildup of mudflow from the Kanlaon eruption.
“Before the eruption, that creek was very deep, but now it has become shallow,” he said.
Since the creek is located within the protected areas, the Protected Area Management Boards (PAMB) has released a resolution in response to the special permit requested by the barangay, together with the La Castellana Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
According to Resolution No. 17 of the PAMB, the barangay and the municipality are allowed to dredge the stocked materials, but are prohibited from hauling and the
utilization of the materials to avoid it becoming a quarry, which is against the law, Martinez said.
“The request is allowed for dredging without hauling, but not the utilization of materials in the creek,” the PAMB resolution stated as read by Martinez during an interview.
In contrast to the resolution, Martinez said that they tried to pile some of the rocks and sand collected from the area at the shore of the creek, but when heavy rains pour, the materials are washed back into the creek.
The barangay is requesting PAMB and DENR, not only to allow dredging, but also for the hauling of the materials, to prevent possible danger.
As of the moment, the barangay’s solution has been to use sandbags as a line of defense to secure the safety of nearby houses.
“There is a possibility that one of our sitios [Sitio Tamburong] will be wiped out if it is not hauled, where approximately 200 houses stand… Not only Barangay Biak-na-Bato but also lower barangays like Cabacungan will suffer from flooding,” he expressed.
Negros Occidental Eugenio Jose Lacson said that he will seek advice from the Provincial Environment Management Office (PEMO) to resolve the problem and to immediately start dredging.
“When there is a heavy rain, there is a tendency for lahar to really fall down to La Castellana, and it is usually in the river where the lahar goes to. That is why there is a need to dredge it because it really becomes shallow,” he said.
The province will provide the equipment to be used during the dredging, as Lacson said “We usually lend them our equipment; if the mayor requests such, we will forward to them whatever available equipment we have.” (Richard Caballero Jr. via tvds)