BAGUIO CITY – Representatives of the institutions that adopted portions of the Balili River called on residents living along the tributaries of the major river system in the city to cooperate in the various activities to maintain the cleanliness and orderliness of the body of water for the benefit of the present and future generations.
Vladimir Cayabas, school administrator of the National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT), said that the institution adopted a portion of the Balili River to set an example for residents to emulate amidst their limited resources and manpower but there is a need to sustain the efforts to guarantee the cleanliness of the adopted portions of the river system.
He pointed out volunteers are often disappointed because the areas that they have cleaned are almost in the same condition when they left the said places, thus, it means that the residents in the area did not do anything to maintain the cleanliness of their areas along the river system.
The NIIT official warned the residents to cooperate with the efforts of the adopters to clean the river system because there will come a time that they will experience the so-called volunteer fatigue which might leave the residents alone to clean their areas.
Marlyn Malecdan, who represented the employees of the Cordillera office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-CAR), said that they are often dismayed to witness residents living along the stretch of the river system watching them do their cleanup activities as if they are not concerned on the cleanliness of their places when in fact, they should be the ones to spearhead cleanup activities that will ensure the non-dumping of garbage on the river system.
Further, she added that the presence of numerous backyard and commercial piggeries along the tributaries of the river system has been identified as one of the causes of the pollution of the river because the waste of the piggeries are directly dumped on the waterways that directly flow into the system and cause pollution.
University of Baguio Science High School officials claimed that the institution hs included in its curriculum the subject of Environmental Science that seeks to teach the youth the importance of maintaining the cleanliness of the environment by properly disposing of their garbage starting from their homes and schools.
City |Environment and Parks Management Officer Cordelia C. Lacsamana admitted the local government does not have the sufficient resources to sustain the numerous clean up activities being done along the tributaries and portions of the Balili River that is within the jurisdiction of the city, thus, the unrelenting and uncompromising support of the adopters is important to mobilize the concerned stakeholders to be actively involved in ensuring the good quality of water along the stretch of the river system.
The 23-kilometer stretch of the Balili River strands from the different tributaries of the river system passing through La Trinidad town until it exits in Sablan, Benguet.
Lacsamana admitted that the local government continues to entice institutions to adopt portions of the various river systems to prevent the same from being heavily polluted because of the unscrupulous practices of residents in dumping their generated wastes to the waterways as it remains committed in ensuring clean water for the benefit of the present and future generations.
By Dexter A. See
