Aparri local execs support Cagayan River restoration

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan, Jan. 25 (PIA) - - Officials of the municipality of Aparri have expressed full support to the proposed dredging of the Cagayan River, especially the area where the river meets the sea.

Mayor Bryan Dale Chan expresses full support to the Cagayan River restoration project. (by LGU Aparri)

Mayor Bryan Dale G. Chan said there's a need to dredge the river beds to allow better flow of the river from the upstream down to the said town, one of the means that the government is pushing to eliminate severe flooding in the some of the municipalities along the stretch of the Cagayan River.

He added that the project will further allow big vessels to enter the mouth of the river which will enable and boost economic activities with private companies from different countries.

"If we deepen and widen the mouth of the Cagayan River, we believe that big companies will be coming in again as our town has been the gateway of commerce and trade in the early years," Chan said.

He also said an oil company has already abandoned their depot in the town as they could hardly enter the only 3.5 depth of the riverbed at their docking area.

Vice Mayor Rommel Alameda also said they fully support the restoration project and they will ensure that there will be no black sand mining that will be undertaken in the town.

"We will stop the activities if there will be black sand mining in the guise of dredging. We have to remove the doubts of the people about black sand mining," Alameda said.

The two officials, however, requested the national government and the dredging companies to have a dialogue with them to discuss how will the restoration be conducted.

They also requested that their local industries may also be part of the restoration activities to help boost their local economy and create jobs for their constituents. (MDCT/OTB/PIA 2-Cagayan)