Manila Water Company: BF calls for unified action to clean up Marikina River

BF calls for unified action to clean up Marikina River

Posted: Tuesday August 28, 2007

Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman (MMDA) Bayani “BF” Fernando stressed the need for concerted efforts to help clean up the Marikina River. He made this call during his speech as the guest of honor in Manila Water Company as the East Zone concessionaire celebrates a decade of successful public private partnership.

The former Marikina mayor has long been a staunch environmental advocate, and part of his vision then as Marikina City mayor was to revive the once-marine-laden Marikina River. The Marikina Riverbanks Park has now become a favorite getaway not only of Marikeños but Metro Manilans as well. The river, however, remains much to be desired. While efforts have been made to protect the river, Fernando insisted that this is not just the role of Marikina City alone. “If we would like to see a ‘living’ river, everyone must do his share,” the MMDA chair added.

Fernando embarked on an urban renewal program for the informal settlements thriving along the riverbanks when he was still mayor of Marikina as part of the initial drive to stop further degradation of the river. While the informal settlers have been relocated since then, recent environmental studies still reveal that a startling 58% of river pollution still comes from domestic waste. This figure is even higher in Metro Manila. “Unless we address the problem of wastewater and sanitation, whether from residential, commercial and industrial sources, all our efforts will remain futile,” the former mayor averred. He even mentioned to the eager audience that he believes that more than 80% of Metro Manilans have not even dared try touching river water because aesthetically, the water is so unsightly. “If we are to clean up Marikina River which eventually drains into the Pasig River, we need to stop pollution from all sources. It is no use cleaning up the river if the pollution remains unabated, and that has to start from the source,” Fernando reiterated.

Marikina River extends from the municipality of Rodriguez, formerly Montalban, and straddles across several cities of Metro Manila. The full stretch of the river has been characterized by the presence of informal settlements as well as a number of commercial and industrial establishments. Government has enacted laws to combat further pollution into the river bodies with the passage of the Clean Water Act.

However, if the vision were to see a revived and resuscitated Marikina River, there has to be an integrated approach from information, education and communication (IEC) to the citizenry, infrastructure interventions to reduce and eventually stop further pollution into the river and urban renewal programs to address the problems of informal settlers along the river stretches.

MMDA Chairman Fernando is very keen on encouraging the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of the Marikina River. His wife and incumbent mayor Marides Fernando has continued this mission with the “Clean River, Clean City” project in coordination with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). While the project is replete with the IEC components, Chairman Fernando continues to emphasize the need for wastewater facilities to be constructed to curb further pollution into the river.

Chairman Fernando recalled that Marikina River used to be part of the initial water source, with Marikina as site of former pump and booster stations for then Greater Manila Area way back in the early 1900’s. Since the decommissioning of the Wawa Dam in Montalban with the use of the Angat Water Supply in Bulacan in the mid- to late-sixties, the river condition began to deteriorate over time. Fernando said that while water supply has been significantly addressed by the east zone concessionaire, now is the time to look into environmental protection. He urges Manila Water to further invest in wastewater and sanitation facilities in light of the mounting domestic wastewater releases as a result of the growing population in Metro Manila.