IN what appears to be a prototype approach seen to deliver results, two towns in Rizal province have effectively maintained waterways without spending a dime -- or at the very least, not that much.
According to Angono Vice Mayor Gerardo Calderon, the local government is not spending a dime for the year-long dredging and flushing of the Angono River which stretches from its upland area to the Laguna de Bay.
In an interview, Calderon said that they have entered a deal with the IPM Construction Company, which has been using its resources and equipment to keep the town-based waterways clean.
In exchange, IPM gets to make use of the sediments salvaged from the rivers and creeks within the locality.
“As much as we want to do it on our own, our limited resources have been preventing us from acquiring the equipment required to clean up our waterways. Hopefully we would be able to raise funds for that soon,” Calderon averred.
He however clarified that the agreement between the local government and IPM is not in any way river quarrying, citing environmental safety provisions primarily designed to ensure ecological integrity of the local waterways.
Unlike Angono, Cainta, which enjoys investment spillover from Metro Manila, used local funds to procure earthmovers to do the river clean-up.
“Kung kumuha tayo ng private contractor, ang laki na siguro ng gastos natin… pero dahil tayo ang may ari ng barge at backhoe, gasolina at sweldo lang, lilinis ng husto ang waterways natin,” municipal administrator Johnielle Keith Nieto said in a Facebook post.
Aside from dredging, Cainta has not been bidding out road repairs as it has been making use of local government-procured heavy equipment for horizontal infrastructure projects which include the construction and repair of roads and flood-control systems.
“Pati paglalatag ng mga reinforced concrete pipes, pinasok na rin natin para mas marami tayong magawa at ma stretch natin ang resources. Nagtrain tayo ng limang tao na maging maalam sa backhoe operations, pinasweldo natin ng 20k isang buwan, tapos sinalang natin sila para gumawa ng drainage sa bagong housing community natin sa Balai, Sto Domingo,” added Nieto in a separate social media post. (with reports from Knots Alforte)
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