Gross National Negligence |
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Columns - Ike Señeres | |||
Written by Ike Señeres | |||
Sunday, 12 December 2010 09:18 | |||
BANTAY GOBYERNO (SERIES 046) By Ike Señeres Manila’s Esteros Represent Environmental Degradation That’s Not Only the Government’s Fault but Also of All who live in the Metropolis It was my first time last week to see the esteros in To go direct to the point, what I saw was clearly the result of gross national negligence, and I say that because the degradation of the environment in that area is not just the fault of the government, but of everyone who lives in this metropolis, everyone who produces wastes as a result of consumption, wastes that are not properly disposed of as it should be. I realized however that the problem is not just waste disposal, but the bigger problem it seems is the violation of river-easement laws that were completely ignored by the long parade of local government officials who were supposed to implement these laws. Immediately I realized that the problem is political, because that is the only way to explain the absence of political wills that should have been there in the first place. Ms. Lopez is correct in saying that not unless we clean the esteros that are feeding it, we could not clean the In most other countries, the richest people live in the waterfront communities, and that is because the views from that vantage are spectacular. In contrast, here in the Beauty Versus Safety As I listened to Ms. Lopez, I understood right away what she is trying to do. By being able to succeed in the cleanup of the smaller waterfronts and waterways, she is laying the groundwork for the political will to grow as a groundswell, after the people in the metropolis could see that if we could succeed in cleaning the smaller parts of the ecosystem, we could then believe that we could clean the bigger ecosystem as well. The good news is, she is already succeeding and many people are already getting convinced that it could be done. Beauty is one thing, safety is another. Ms. Lopez is trying to beautify the esteros and the It took many years of neglect to bring the It is obvious that in order to clear the easements along the waterways, the illegal settlers would have to be relocated. Ms. Lopez believes that it is a better option to just move them to more-decent dwellings nearby, rather than move them to far places that would take them away from their livelihood. This is the reason why she needs the urban planners, and In the final analysis, it is going to be the combination of good environment, shelter and livelihood programs that will bring lasting solutions to the problem as defined. Aside from that however, I see the need to also bring in good education and health programs, and
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Last Updated on Monday, 20 December 2010 11:26 |
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