BAGUIO CITY – A four-semester, two-year project for the rehabilitation of the Balili river will be conducted, after a memorandum of agreement signing last Monday with Mayor Mauricio Domogan, La Trinidad Mayor Romeo Salda, the academe and partner agencies present.
During the signing, the Ripples for River Rehabilitation of the Balili River System Revitalization Coalition (BRSRC) gathered barangay officials and involved agencies for the agreement covering the implementation of the project. The mechanics was delivered in details by Dr. Gaudelia Reyes of the Saint Louis University.
The first part of the project covers a needs assessment through a walk-through in the barangays’ portion of the Balili river; survey and association with barangay constituents; analysis and preparation of the report; and submission to the BRSRC. All activities up to the end of the project should be properly documented, Reyes said.
The second part would be the preparation of the barangay action plan and identification of adoptors or partner agencies. Agreement would then be forged for the involvement of the adoptors in the project. The counterpart of the adoptors, who are institutions or establishment member of the BRSRC may be manpower or funding.
A barangay environmental team would then be formed, with trainings conducted; and the last part of the project as the implementation of river rehabilitation activities which would be monitored, the progress report submitted to the BRSRC.
The self-reliance and sustenance of the activities for river rehabilitation would be evaluated through the documents and reports submitted, with cash prizes at the end of each year of implementation. The project then terminates
At least 37 barangays within Baguio City and La Trinidad are involved in the project, as their boundaries are with Balili river or a tributary runs through their area of responsibility.
We enjoin the participation of everybody, though the prizes are meager, as “we harvest the impact of research, science and policy,” BRSRC officials said.
Both mayors; Domogan and Salda, urged barangay constituents of both areas to unite and participate in the continuing advocacy of river cleanliness and not to point fingers at each other.
It is a goal to have clean waters by 2040 Salda quipped, “same as the Balili river of my youth.”
Stake holders from the academe, government agencies and adoptors were acknowledged during the forum.
By: Julie Fianza