Delayed funds stalling watershed protection efforts
A landmark Davao City ordinance aiming to protect the watershed areas could not be implemented for lack of funds.
City Hall environmental planners however are hoping funding could be approved as the city government focuses on giving import to the city watershed areas which serve as recharge points for the city aquifer where residents depend on their drinking water.
The Watershed Protection, Conservation and Management Code became law last year, but the Local Finance Board has yet to approve a P5 million initial fund for the Watershed Management Council that would implement provisions of the ordinance.
The ordinance, authored by councilor Arnolfo Ricardo Cabling, when he was chair of the environment committee, hopes to protect about 34,000 hectares of watershed areas mostly in the city’s upland Third District. For a start, the Watershed Management Council chaired by Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, would have initiated
programs to establish grassroots councils set into place foundations for watershed protection. The council is supported by the Barangay Watershed Councils and the Barangay Watershed Monitoring Councils which also needed funds for information dissemination, monitoring and organization.
A program of work reportedly has been submitted to the finance board but action has been slow even as the watershed areas continue to be threatened by development aggression.
Under the ordinance, conservation areas and agro-forestry areas have been identified as needing immediate protection.
Filed under: CABLING ARNOLFO, aquifer, davao city, environment | Tagged: aquifer, cabling, environment
