• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The cloudseeding operation in Negros Occidental was held in abeyance for fear that the rain it may induce may cause lahar flow in areas affected by the eruption of Mt. Kanlaon, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said yesterday.
Instead, Lacson said that the cloudseeding operation in Iloilo will push through.
“There is a tendency that the lahar flow will continue especially if there are heavy rains,” he added.
Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED), said on Wednesday that natural rains were actually experienced in some areas of Negros Occidental on Tuesday.
The two airplanes of Lamata were contracted to conduct cloudseeding operations both in Negros Occidental and Panay.
On when the cloudseeding operation will start in Negros Occidental, Lacson said “we will have to be guided about by the possible lahar flow”.
“If Phivolcs (Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology) says it is possible, I think we will have to make do with the natural rains that is coming already,” he added.
Sugarcane planters earlier told Lacson that they still want more rains due to the effects of drought to their crops.
In an interview with RMN DYHB, Lamata said they still need cloudseeding as sugarcane crops need more rain, and also to remove ash fall from their crops and to lessen the acidity of soil.
The Bureau of Soils and Water Management of the Department of Agriculture implements the cloudseeding operations in Western Visayas. | GB
