Kalibo villagers fear ‘losing’ homes on Aklan river dredging

Villagers living in Aklan River banks fear their homes will disappear if the dredging project will continue. Portions of Sitio Libuton in Bakhaw Norte in Kalibo, Aklan are collapsing, according to village chief Maribeth Cual.

Santarli (STL) Panay Resources Company is dredging the Aklan River with the accumulated silt and trash. High tides and heavy rains caused  flooding in low-lying areas in Kalibo, Numancia, Banga, Malinao and Lezo in recent years. 

Cual said, “they might be losing at least 100 houses more, due in large part, to erosion ofriver banks and set to worsen if dredging of Aklan river will push through.”

The village chief also appealed to her constituents to remain calm despite the threats of massive soil erosion in Aklan River banks and the island barangay of Bakhaw Norte.

“But, our voice must be heard...we sought the intervention of Kalibo mayor William Lachica who is also opposing the dredging."

“Mga 70 bahay ang nagiba na dahil sa erosion at alon galing sa Sibuyan Sea. Hindi kami takot sa baha, mas takot kami pag nag-umpisa uli ang dredging at marami pang bahay ang masisira,” she added in local dialect in RMN-DyKR Kalibo interview on December 7.

Two weeks ago, a Chinese vessel MV Zhong Hai 18 anchored in Bakhaw Norte coastline. The vessel is contracted by STL following the green-light from the provincial government of Aklan to remove millions of cubic meters of dredged material over the next three years.

Last February 2015, STL consultant Pablo Ocampo said “the dredging firm has the capacity to remove the sediments that has collected in the silted Aklan River for years.”

The company was granted the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) on January 2014 after more than a year of study on Aklan River. A multi-partite monitoring team composed of government agencies including the nine barangays affected by the dredging project will also oversee to ensure the needs of the communities as well as the environment were met. 

The dredging deal will allow STL to compensate the province of Aklan P5 per cubic meter of dredged materials. The dredging project blueprint would involve digging up 400 hectares of 15 million cubic meters of sand in the 8 kilometers dredging length.

The provincial government stands to earn more than P70 million to be used for flood mitigation and risk reduction projects.

Dredging after Typhoon Frank

After Typhoon Frank devastated the province of Aklan in 2008, the national government through the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) funded P100-million for the rehabilitation of the existing Aklan River system.

The dredging work of Aklan River was completed two years after.

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL