San Miguel Corporation (SMC)’s road project in Pasig has received backlashes from various groups, saying that the Pasig River Expressway (PAREX) is a “death sentence” for the river. SMC President Ramon S. Ang himself addressed the issues by clarifying that PAREX will help provide sustainability not only to the river but in Metro Manila as well.
SMC is showing progress
Amid the issue of PAREX, SMC seems to be not fazed as it continues to make progress for its Pasig River cleanup operation. The company reported that it has now removed 54,000 metric tons of silt and solid waste since the project started three months ago, specifically at the Pandacan and Malacañang areas.
“With or without the PAREX project, we will continue to clean the Pasig River. Water sustainability has been our advocacy within the company for many years now. We have also been helping clean up rivers and bodies of water in our communities before,” said SMC President Ramon S. Ang.
With a project cost of P2-billion, the Pasig River cleanup operation aims to extract 50,000 MT of waste per month, translating to 600,000 MT per year. The current production rate is expected to improve as SMC is looking to hire more personnel and deploy more equipment for the job.
A significant project from SMC
The cleanup operation will help alleviate heavy flooding incidents not only in Pasig, but also in its neighboring areas in Metro Manila including Marikina City and Laguna. By doing so, the chances of catastrophe caused by previous typhoons such as Ulysses and Ondoy won’t happen again.
“We are grateful to our government partners for their support. A clean Pasig River is a dream we share with many Filipinos, especially those who have worked to achieve this goal in the past. There are many issues that need to be addressed to make this dream a reality, but we are progressing,” added Ang.
SMC is currently working closely with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to efficiently extract wastes in the Pasig River. Also, the company is waiting for the approval of a detailed dredging plan by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for a more successful dredging operation.
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