PAENRO leads "Sagip Linis" in Magat Dam
by Vency D. Bulayungan
ALFONSO LISTA, Ifugao (9 October) -- With the intention of boosting the economic condition of fisher folks here, the Provincial Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources office (PAENRO) and other stakeholders came up with a project dubbed "Sagip Linis" at the Magat Dam here.
PAENRO Raymond Bahatan said that his office together with the National Power Corporation, the National Irrigation Administration and the Federation of Fisherfolks in the municipalities of Aguinaldo and Alfonso Lista came up with plans on how to clean the Magat Dam in order to increase the source of livelihood of the fishermen.
"The dam is already full of water lilies which hinder the boats of the fisher folks when they do fishing and other things that pollute the water," Bahatan said.
He added that with the growing population of the people living near the dam, the water has become polluted necessitating the relocation of some residents.
"We have to relocate 200 families to barangay Sto. Domingo (Alfonso Lista) in order to minimize if not to prevent pollution," Bahatan said. There are about 500 fishermen here and the nearby town of Aguinaldo.
Bahatan disclosed that during a meeting recently, the fisher folks realized the effect of water pollution so they agreed to cooperate and be one with government in cleaning up the dam. "With this positive attitude, some families volunteered to be relocated to Sto. Domingo," he said.
The removal of abandoned fish cages which contribute to the pollution of the dam is also part of the clean up project, Bahatan said explaining that the pollution will surely result to fish kill, which would mean a decrease in the income of the fishermen.
Bahatan said that the project was synchronized with the Sagip Linis of Regions II and CAR. Magat Dam is the boundary between Ifugao and Isabela of Region II.
The PAENRO also informed that part of their plans is to train fisherfolks by conducting a training dubbed Fisherfolk Field School, a version of the farmer skills field school which is also a project of the Agriculture Department for farmers.
We will teach them how to stock harvest and they should have hands on learning, but we will also encourage them to bring out their hidden knowledge from which the stakeholders might also learn from the fisherfolk, he said. (PIA-Ifugao) [top]
