Environmental organizations that have been calling for a genuine rehabilitation of Manila Bay were the first ones to oppose the recent dumping of artificial white sand along the shore of Manila Bay by the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). The project will create a white sand beach along a 500-meter stretch from the United States embassy to the Manila Yacht Club. Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu launched the project in January 2019 under the P389-million Manila Bay rehabilitation program. Nobody raised any objection when the project was launched.
Now that the “white sand” is here, dectractors call it evil. The pandemic obviously made this kind of project seemingly “ill-conceived,” especially when so many hungry and jobless people stand to benefit from the money earmarked for the rehabilitation project. In fairness to the DENR, the word “pandemic” was not even in the vocabulary of people currently raising hell with the agency when the Manila Bay rehabilitation program was being planned.
As the world is in the middle of a health crisis, health concerns are likewise being raised because the DENR, it turned out, is not pouring white sand on Manila Bay but crushed dolomite, which is also being used as a feed additive for livestock. Department of Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said there are medical reports that crushed dolomite can cause “adverse reactions” primarily on the respiratory system, if “aerosolized” and inhaled. She clarified: “If you inhale the dust, your respiratory system will be affected. We are not saying that when you go to Manila Bay, you’ll get it at once. With the clearance of the DENR, I don’t think this project will be implemented if it will cause harm to the environment and also to our people.”
Many people on social media are now saying that the Manila Bay “white sand” is harmful, based on the pronouncements of the good Health undersecretary about its potential health hazard. They completely missed her qualifying condition—that crushed dolomite can cause adverse reactions “if aerosolized and inhaled.”
Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said the dolomites used to beautify the stretch of Manila Bay’s shore are safe. “It is not listed by the Mines Safety and Health Association, Occupational Safety and Health Association or even in the International Agency for Research of Cancer as a carcinogen,” he said during the budget deliberation of the agency before the House committee on appropriations. Cimatu explained that the hazardous ones are the dolomite dust particles with the size of 10 to 15 microns. He pointed out that the size of the dolomites being used in Manila Bay is 2,000 to 5,000 microns or 100 times bigger than dust. “Therefore, they are not suspended in air and cannot be inhaled.”
The marine conservation group Oceana Philippines launched an online petition to stop the implementation of the Manila Bay white sand project. “We are opposed, and we want this project, a useless expenditure of public money, stopped,” said Gloria Ramos, Oceana Philippines vice president. According to the online petition, the Manila Bay white sand project allegedly violated five laws: Presidential Proclamation 2146, the amended Fisheries Code, the Clean Water Act, the National Cultural Heritage Act, and the Local Government Code.
1 comment
well i agree with roy cimatu.and DNR
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