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THE
Laguna Lake, the country’s largest freshwater lake, is
in a “very bad shape,” according to Edgardo Manda,
general manager of the Laguna Lake Development Authory (LLDA).
He was
speaking at the sidelines of the launching of the 15th
National Public Relations Congress hosted by the Public
Relations Society of the Philippines on Tuesday.
He said
that if one were to classify Laguna Lake on a ranking
from A (potable water) to C (not potable), he would say
that Laguna Lake definitely is the latter.
“It’s
really serious now,” he said, but added that it’s not
the worse yet, since fish such as tilapia and bangus can
still survive. Fishing in the lake supplies 30 percent
of the tilapia and bangus requirements of the
metropolis.
He
warned, however, that city people are essentially eating
polluted fish, citing an LLDA study showing heavy metals
such as mercury, arsenic and cadium present in fish from
the lake.
Mando
said the high level of pollutants come from the unabated
increase of illegal fish pens, squatters along its
shores, and town dumpsites near the lake.
The
Laguna Lake, according to him, hosts about 20,000
hectares of fish pens—of which 40 percent or 8,000
hectares are illegal. They range in size from 500 square
meters to one hectare, making them especially hard to
remove. Another problem he mentioned was that 75 percent
of these fish pens are controlled by “big” corporate
entities.
Despite
setbacks, the LLDA has succeeded in removing about 10
percent of the illegal fish pens and he said they were
targeting their complete removal in the next three to
four months. They are not removing them too quickly in
order not to cause supply problems for the
metropolis—which in turn could increase fish prices.
He said
the illegal settlers on the lake shores are another
major problem, and that in one area about 52,000
individual squatters are concentrated.
An LLDA
study in 1994 tagged as the greatest contributor to
organic waste in Laguna Lake the agriculture industry
(40 percent), with domestic and industrial waste
contributing 30 percent each. Last year, a study showed
domestic waste more than doubled to 68 percent.
He said
the relocation of the illegal settlers is much more
difficult because of the involvement of politics. “The
time of their relocation will depend on whether the
mayor of Montalban and other neighboring town officials
can finally agree on a solution.”
On
funding for the lake’s rehabilitation, they’re faced
with tough challenges. “We need to raise about P500
million but as of now, we haven’t come close to that
amount.”
He said
the amount may be included in the national budget next
year. |
