DENR targets full dredging of Cagayan River sandbar next year
THE DEPARTMENT of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said it is aiming to complete the dredging of the 134.7-hectare sandbar of the Cagayan River by the first quarter of 2022.
In a news release on Monday, DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said 8.43% or 81,807 cubic meters of the targeted 970,962 cubic meters has so far been dredged since the start of operations in June.
Mr. Cimatu said materials dredged from the river have been placed at the Cagayan riverbanks and will be used to restore the ideal alignment of eroded parts. The restoration is also seen to speed up the flow of water to the river’s mouth in Aparri, Cagayan.
He also said that the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Armed Forces of the Philippines will deploy additional equipment and workforce to help in the dredging operations.
The project is part of the department’s efforts to rehabilitate areas devastated by flooding during typhoons, like Cagayan.
The province experienced its worst flooding in four decades in November last year during typhoon Ulysses (international name: Vamco), which affected 583,493 individuals and left 24 dead in the Cagayan Valley region. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago
