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[av_heading heading=’Villagers fear losing homes amid Aklan River dredging’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY BOY RYAN ZABAL
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KALIBO, Aklan – People living along the Aklan River bank in Sitio Libuton, Barangay Bakhaw Norte in this capital town are afraid they would lose their houses to an ongoing river dredging.
Riverside portions of the hamlet are eroding, according to Barangay Captain Maribeth Cual.
“Mga 70 bahay ang nagiba na dahil sa erosion at alon galing sa Sibuyan Sea,” she told a radio interview recently.
Cual stressed the river dredging could worsen the erosion, and “we could lose at least 100 houses more.”
The STL (Santarli) Panay Resources Company is dredging the Aklan River of silt and trash believed to have gathered for years.
Accumulated silt and garbage are partly blamed for the overflow during heavy rains and the consequent flooding in low-lying areas not only in Kalibo but also in Numancia, Banga, Malinao, and Lezo.
The STL contracted the Chinese vessel MV Zhong Hai 18, which docked at the Bakhaw Norte coastline two weeks ago, to dredge the river over the next three years following a green light from capitol.
“Our voice must be heard,” said Cual. “We sought the intervention of Mayor William Lachica, who also opposes the dredging.”
“Hindi kami takot sa baha,” she added. “Mas takot kami pag nag-umpisa uli ang dredging at marami pang bahay ang masisira.”
In February 2015 the STL consultant Pablo Ocampo assured the public of the company’s capability to “remove the sediments from the silted Aklan River.”
After more than a year of studying the Aklan River, the company was granted an environmental compliance certificate in January 2014.
A multipartite monitoring team comprising representatives from government agencies and the nine affected barangays is overseeing the dredging.
Under the deal, the STL shall pay the provincial government P5 per cubic meter of dredged material. The project involves digging up 15 million cubic meters of sand in an 8-kilometers dredging length.
Capitol stands to earn more than P70 million, which it said it will use for flood mitigation and disaster risk reduction projects.
In 2008, after typhoon “Frank” struck the province, the national government — through the Department of Public Works and Highways — provided P100 million for the rehabilitation (dredging) of the Aklan River system.
That project was completed in two years. (Aklan Forum Journal/PN)
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