Thursday, November 29, 2007

DENR Tells Aklanons: Build Houses In Non-Flood & Landslide-Prone Areas

By Venus G. Villanueva
People particularly Aklanons, should not build houses in flood and landslide-prone areas, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Kalibo, Aklan advised. This advice is issued through Environment Management Specialist Derlito Rico, noting that the continuous rains in Aklan now may cause flooding and in some areas, landslides.
“Do not wait for disasters to happen, stop building houses along riverbanks and landslide-prone areas which practice had been ongoing in Aklan, but when something disastrous happens, it is the government which is always blamed,” Rico said.
Rico said one of the flood-prone areas in Aklan is C. Laserna St., Kalibo where many urban poor dwellers build their houses along the Aklan River bank. The towns of Libacao, Madalag and Nabas are landslide-prone municipalities, said Rico.
He also said, continuous rains easily cause floods in Aklan especially in Kalibo, because of plastics-clogged canals.
“That’s why we at the DENR fully agree with the recent directive to promote the use of bayongs and paper bags when going to the market or shopping in malls”, Rico said.
According to him, the use of bayongs, or “tampipi” in Aklan, will eliminate flooding, free the province from plastics, and provide livelihood to buri basket-makers in Aklan.
Buri plants, whose leaves are used in weaving “tampipi” baskets is abundant in Aklan, and the DENR plans to include this plant variety in their reforestation projects.
DENR Secretary Atienza called on everybody to stop using plastics and styrofoam when shopping, and advocated the use of “bayongs” to protect the environment from the negative impact of global warming. /MP

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