Monkayo, Compostela Valley Mayor Ramil Gentuyaga supports the relocation of 1,800 gold processing plants from Barangay Mt. Diwata to Mabatas, saying there is no other way but for everybody to participate in the said transfer.
Operators of ball mill and batch-type Carbon-in-Pulp (CIP) tanks in Mt. Diwata were obliged through the “Lihoc Alang sa Naboc” program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to relocate their operations from Mt. Diwata to the Mines Processing Zone in Mabatas.
This is part of the Naboc River rehabilitation program’s phase one after said river was discovered of having high concentration of mercury as well as incidents of soil erosion and siltation.
Those who will resist DENR’s closure and relocation order insisting on continuing their activities in Mt. Diwata will face a fine of P 200,000 per day of operations.
“There is only one common goal. The LGU stands with DENR and President Duterte’s objective to clean up the Naboc River and surrounding area from toxic chemical contamination,” Gentuyaga said in a report by Mindanao Daily Mirror.
Meanwhile, Gentuyaga assured that the local government of Monkayo together with the provincial government of Compostela Valley are working together in in addressing the concerns of operators.
Operators ask for the improvement of roads leading to Mabatas, transportation for the transfer of equipment, and housing for the affected households from Mt. Diwata displaced after a six-meter tension crack was discovered in said barangay by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).
However, miners and evacuated residents of Mt. Diwata are not the only at risk due to the contamination of Naboc River.
“It is not only the miners and residents of Mr Diwata that are at risk but also the farmers downstream who source water for irrigation of the rice fields in Barangays Tubo-tubo, Naboc, and Mangayon in Compostela,” Gentuyaga explained.
Seen as the only lasting and long-term solution to Naboc River’s pollution, Mabatas processing zone has tailing containment facility to avoid and eliminate the direct discharge of waste from plants to the waterways.
The transfer of gold processing plants to Mabatas was recommended in the early 2000 by the MGB to the Program Monitoring and Coordinating Center (PMCC) which is chaired by the DENR Regional Executive Director, the barangay captain of Mt. Diwata and the Philippine Mining Development Corporation (PMDC).
