DAVAO CITY – The Mining and Environment Committee of the Naboc River Rehabilitation Technical Working Group (TWG) has conducted site identification for the installation of the 2,000 square meter-mercury recovery facilities within Brgy. Naboc and Brgy. Babag, Monkayo, Compostela Valley.
The said facilities will be used to recover mercury from the dredged materials prior to disposal of Sand and Gravel. The dredging of the Naboc River will commence in October this year.
Following the consultation from the Barangay Units, the said committee was able to identify seven (7) sites considering the significant factors such as the areas’ distance from the dredging site and its accessibility and distance from the community. There will be 1 recovery facility (RF) for each RIver Quarry Block (RQB).
The Mining and Environment Committee is being chaired by the Mining and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and the Environment Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-XI). Along with other committees, they are tasked to formulate the Naboc River Rehabilitation Master Plan.
The rehabilitation of Naboc River is one of the priority programs of Secretary Cimatu after President Rodrigo Duterte stated in his SONA last July 2017 the ill condition of the river caused by Mercury, Cyanide and fecal coliform contamination. A Memorandum of Agreement for the dredging, quarrying, and rehabilitation of Naboc River was signed last July 16, 2019, attended by DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, DILG Undersecretary for Operations Epimaco V. Densing III, Compostela Valley Provincial Governor Jayvee Tyron L. Uy, and DPWH-XI Regional Director Allan S. Borromeo.
A month after the MOA signing, a Joint Special Order creating the said TWG was also signed by Assistant Secretary for Field Operations Eastern Mindanao and DENR-XI Regional Executive Director Ruth M. Tawantawan and Comval Governor Jayvee Tyrone L. Uy. PR- MGB