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THE Laguna Lake Development Authority said it would
continue dismantling fish pens inside the critical 12,000-hectare
area in Laguna de Bay to save the lake from further degradation.
LLDA General Manager Edgardo
Manda said they are cooperating with the Department Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR) to remove illegally erected fish pens being
financed by big corporate entities.
“They [fish pen operators] even
hire and train individuals making them a virtual private army to
harass and stop government workers who visit and serve them eviction
notices,” he said.
Manda said he is satisfied over
the start of the demolition of fish pens the other day after
government forces faced no violent resistance from fish pen
operators.
“The clearing operations would
proceed without let-up,” he said adding that his conviction earned
the ire of retired and active military generals, retired and active
politicians, who are the owners of the fish pens.
Fish pen operators claim they
supply 30 percent of fish in Metro Manila and stopping their
operations in the lake will result to higher prices of fish in the
market.
But Manda said such claim is
untrue because, in fact, the continuous operations of the fish pen
owners further pollute the quality of water of Laguna de Bay.
Manda said fish pens clogged
waterways and the use of chemical feeds leaves huge amounts of
residue, which result to heavy sedimentation that eventually kills
planktons and fish.
LLDA has recently spearheaded a
bike caravan over the weekend along the 280-km stretch of Laguna de
Bay shorelines to raise environment awareness aimed at saving the
country’s largest living lake.
Manda said they also plan to
introduce bamboo propagation in communities along the lake to give
people livelihood and to prevent flooding and pollution.
--Angelo S. Samonte
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