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HEAVY
soil deposits at the
Pasig River
has delayed deliveries of barges, bringing financial
losses to private port operators, an industry group told
reporters last week. Sediments can cause the waterway to
become shallow, making it difficult for carriers to
navigate the river and offload their goods on schedule.
Private port operators said that they wait for high tide
before allowing deliveries since it is easier for ships
to navigate the river.
Moreover, the move to establish public transportation
along Manila’s waterway has not helped private port
operators any, the Association of Private Port Operators
and Owners of the
Philippines
said.
The
group added that government agencies such as the
Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), among others, should
maintain the whole stretch of the Pasig River, being the
more logical move than simply dredging only a small
portion of the waterway.
“If the
shipments were late for two or three hours, that would
mean we would have to wait for another 12 hours before
we can make a delivery to the ports,” said an official
who refused to be identified.
The
Pasig River is currently only three meters deep,
although ideally, it should have depths of at least five
to seven meters.
But if
the PPA or the Department of Public Works and Highways
would regularly dredge the waterway’s whole stretch,
private-port operators and their partner companies need
not wait for high tide.
“What
should be done is a long-term plan wherein dredging will
be slow but it will be meeting the objective instead of
a ‘band-aid’ solution like what is being enforced,” the
group said.
According to the official, operations become complicated
when the government allowed a passenger ferry on the
river, which runs on its own schedule, clogging some
channels that used to be freely available to cargo
vessels.
“The
river may be wide enough, but there are only certain
channels that our barges and vessels can navigate. You
cannot just go to the sides because it’s too shallow,”
the official said.
During
the Marcos era, many large companies such as flour and
sugar mills have set up their own facilities at the
Pasig River to speed up delivery of their goods.
Currently, only a few companies are engaged in the
practice because of high maintenance costs of using the
Pasig
River.
These include RFM Corp., Universal Robina Corp., and the
three oil major companies using Pandacan oil depot.
In 1999,
President Estrada ordered a 15-year project to clean the
river until 2014.
Funded
by a $176.8-million loan from the Asian Development
Bank, the project entails the redevelopment of riverside
slums, relocation of tens of thousands of informal
settlers, and the launch of a passenger ferry.
In early
2000, the Lighterage Association of the Philippines—a
group of barge companies—partnered with the Manila City
government to dredge and maintain the river but it has
made little success. |
