ANGELES CITY – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has come out with a P1.9-billion worth proposal to finally rehabilitate the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System (MMORS) which was dubbed as one of the world’s dirtiest.
Antonio Molano, Jr., regional director of the DPWH in Central Luzon, said his office has already submitted a proposal on the dredging of the MMORS spanning about 43 kilometers, including a proposal to upgrade a 30-km dike along the waterways to protect informal settlers who are to be moved to a nearby location.
This moved followed the appeal of Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino Alvarado for “immediate support” from the national government for the rehabilitation of MMORS which was tagged as among the world’s 30 dirtiest rivers by international environment watchdog Blacksmith Institute.
“Everyone is looking up to the north. It is the time to show our region’s development and progress. But how can we fully promote that, if there’s a smudge or a black-eye on its image?” asked Alvarado.
Alvarado, who is also chairman of the Sectoral Committee on Infrastructure Development of the Regional Development Council (RDC), said the DPWH submitted to the RDC its rehabilitation program and related budget requirements for the rehabilitation project.
Molano described the proposed P1.9 billion budget as being adequate to rehabilitate MMORS which flows into the Manila Bay.
Alvarado also noted the need to construct a sanitary landfill where dredged materials from the river system could be dumped.
“The spoils of the dredging should be dumped properly into a safe and contained location because the MMORS is saturated with hazardous heavy metals like mercury, lead and arsenic from surrounding plants,” he noted.
“This project needs a strong political will in order for it to succeed. We also need to put everything in due process, make public consultation and proper information dissemination particularly in the matter of relocating the settlers within the riverbanks.
It is also important to develop a sanitary landfill in Bulacan where the spoils of the dredging will be properly dumped,” Alvarado stressed.
