• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Mayor John Rey Tabujara of Cauayan, Negros Occidental said on Thursday (Oct. 24) that he ordered a stoppage to the clearing operation of a “nesting area” for sea turtles in Sitio Bil-at, Barangay Caliling.
Tabujara said that it was the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) in Kabankalan City that acted on the clearing of the area, which has no permit from the agency.
Forester Lucia Salazar, supervising environment specialist of CENRO-Kabankalan, said that forest rangers who inspected the area discovered that the project has no Environmental Compliance Certificate.
Salazar said that she received information that the place will be used as docking area for jet skis.
She added that the area, which had been bulldozed, is near the Hulaw- Hulaw coral reef, and is also a nesting place for sea turtles.
It has the presence of sea grass and many coral cages that would also be affected by such activity.
Salazar said that she already referred the complaint to the Environmental Management Bureau-Western Visayas in Iloilo City.
Caliling village chief Josel Papioco, in an interview with RMN DYHB, said that the barangay did not issue any certification or resolution, allowing such activity. | GB
