NEWSFLASH

NAVOTAS-MALABON RIVER POLLUTERS HUNTED

Quezon City, Feb. 15, 2000 - Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Antonio Cerilles has ordered the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) and the DENR-National Capital Region to crackdown on polluting firms located along the Navotas-Malabon-Tullahan-Tenejeros (NMTT) rivers. This river system is one of the worst polluted and biologically-dead waterways in Metro Manila.

According to Cerilles, the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) or the measure of the quantity of oxygen used by microorganisms is so high in the polluted rivers that it makes them fit for nothing else but navigation.

The NMTT originates in the northeastern boundary of Metro Manila and runs for 26 kilometers from the Novaliches reservoir toward Manila Bay.

The main stream of the river is called different names -- Tullahan, Tenejeros, Malabon and Navotas at different portions of the river. The most polluted stretch pools out at the North Diversion Road downstream, where the maximum mean BOD usually occurs.

Cerilles said about 58 percent of the pollutants comes from domestic waste and 42 percent from industrial waste. There are about 1,000 industrial plants along the NMTT and about 11,000 squatter families within its watershed.

The DENR called the attention of local government units and other government agencies, pointing out that the major causes are the inadequate domestic wastewater collection and disposal, indiscriminate dumping of solid wastes and the unregulated industrial waste discharge.

Cerilles said there is a need to improve the four monitoring stations located in Gov. Pascual (Malabon), McArthur Highway, North Diversion Road and Gulod (Novaliches).

Last Feb. 14, the DENR reengineered the Rivers Revival Program. This clean-up scheme is set to fully revive the NMTT by using a basin-wide septic tank cleaning program, relocating the squatter shanties along the 26-kilometer waterway, dredging of the river system and monitoring the industries along the riverbanks like public markets, slaughterhouses and oil depots.