ILOILO – This province may be running out of sand and gravel needed for government infrastructure projects and private undertakings.
According to Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) chief Atty. Arturo Cangrejo, some contractors of road projects have applied for sand and gravel quarry permits as far as Antique and even Leyte.
“The demand for sand and gravel is high due to a lot of government infrastructure projects in Iloilo. Add to that private construction activities,” said Cangrejo.
Among the contractors that expressed concern to PENRO were those that bagged government contracts for the Philippine Rural Development Program of the Department of Agriculture. It is a World Bank-funded program supporting the development of rural infrastructure such as roads, bridges, communal irrigation systems, potable water supply, solar dryers, greenhouses, and composting facilities, among others, to boost rural incomes and reduce poverty.
Cangrejo said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 6, too, asked the provincial government on June 4 to grant sand and gravel permits to the contractors of its various infrastructure projects in Iloilo.
DPWH-6 observed the slow implementation of its projects, said Cangrejo, and it discovered one factor: “insufficiency of aggregates” such as sand and gravel.
Cangrejo said Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. may likely arrange a dialogue among PENRO, DPWH, the Environmental Management Bureau, Mines and Geosciences Bureau, and even the National Irrigation Administration to discuss the concern.
For this year, the provincial government decided to limit the issuance of sand and gravel quarry permits. PENRO already issued 44 quarry permits for commercial sand and gravel and 13 for industrial sand and gravel.
It made this decision following a Rapid River Assessment in August 2017. The assessment showed a decline in quarry materials in three main sources: Leon, Tigbauan and Janiuay towns./PN
