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| Bustos Dam |
MALOLOS CITY—Bulacan officials allay fears on possible
resumption of rampant quarrying in the province with the construction of the
planned Angat Sports Water Park that will rival similar facility in Camarines
Sur.
This came as Governor Wilhelmino Alvarado and Tourism
Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) Chief Operating Officer
Mark Lapid led the groundbreaking ceremony in Angat town earlier this week.
Officials also made assurance that the water park will be
safe as water related activity will only be held on summer days, and not during
the wet season when Angat Dam release water into the river.
However, they noted operation of other facilities in the
planned water park, like restaurants zip lines and others will continue even
during the wet season.
“There is nothing to fear, “Alvarado said yesterday, “while
there will be quarrying along the river, it will be monitored and regulated.”
As an eco-tourism project endorsed by TIEZA, Alvarado said
that part of the proposed three hectare water park will require quarrying to
even the depth.
He said that based on preliminary design, depth and width of
the river were predetermined.
“The river bed is un-even, so, there are parts that will be
quarried, but only based on the required depth,” he said adding it will be
regulated in order to protect the embankment of the river and prevent possible
erosion.
Alvarado added that Angat Water
Park
Concern over possible resumption of rampant quarrying along
the Angat River
was raised by local residents after Alvarado and Lapid led the ground breaking
ceremony for the Angat
Sports Water
Park
Residents cited in the 2000, similar project was proposed by
the local officials, but they said it was used by some officials as an excuse
for rampant quarry operations.
A resident who asked not to be identified said quarrying was partly to blame in the killing of the former municipal
administrator of Angat town who was gunned down by New Peoples Army rebels in
2003.
It was followed by torching of quarry equipment and other
machineries in 2004, an incident whose responsibility was also claimed by the
rebels.
With regards to the safety of the water park, Alvarado said
water related activities like rowing and dragon boat competitions will only be
held during summer.
The same was echoed by Mayors Feliciano Legazpi of
Norzagaray and Arnel Mendoza of Bustos.
But Mendoza
added that they are also working on safety measures for water related
activities during the wet season.
Earlier, Lapid asked the town mayors of Angat, Norzagaray,
Bustos and San Rafael
to come with their own tourism packages related to the planned water park.
This due to the fact that the water park is not only
concentrated in Angat town as the river spans all four towns.
“At present, we can actually hold such activities even
before the completion of the Angat Water Park ,
but of course, it will be better if we have Waterpark,” Mendoza said.
For his part, Mayor Legazpi said that during summer, parts
of the Angat River
“It is like a poor man’s resort especially Sitio Pugpog and
Sitio Bitbit,” he said. (Dino Balabo)
