• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Mayor John Rey Tabujara yesterday said that he ordered the stoppage of the clearing operation of a nesting area for sea turtles in Sitio Bil-at, Barangay Caliling, Cauayan, Negros Occidental.
Tabujara said that it was the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office in Kabankalan City that acted on the clearing of the area, which had 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 (ECC).
Salazar said she received information that the place will be used as a docking area for jet skis.
She added that the area, which had been bulldozed, is near the Hulaw Hulaw coral reef, a nesting place for sea turtles, because of the presence of seagrass, and many coral cages will also be affected.
Salazar said she already referred the complaint to the Environmental Management Bureau 6 in Iloilo City.
Caliling barangay chairman Josel Papioco, in an interview with RMN DYHB, disclosed that the barangay did not issue any certification, or resolution, allowing such activity.*
