DENR UNDER FIRE FOR RIVER FISH KILLFer Basbas, Bikol Daily
Naga City. Officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) are under fire in connection with the sudden appearance of dead fishes in the Bicol River.
Former Naga City Mayor Jess Robredo, head of the Metro Naga Development Council, urged the DENR in Naga City to speedily act on reports that pollution was responsible for the "fish kill".
This, following complaints that the environment agency had been sitting on the results of a chemical analysis on the affluent from the Penafrancia Sugar Mill (Pensumil), formerly BISUDECO.
Bula Mayor Ben Decena has also castigated DENR officials for turning a deaf ear to his complaints on the toxic wastes being discharged by the sugar mill into the nearby Pawili River.
Uproar over pollution in the Bicol River rose following the appearance of hordes of dead freshwater fishes at several towns alongside the Bicol River from Bula to Naga City.
Residents of Barangay Mabulo this city had a field day harvesting fish which have floated lifeless to the surface. This, amid apprehensions that the windfall could be shortlived and was actually a harbinger of disaster.
Environmental officials have not given explanations but suspicions have been strong that pollution from establishments near the river is behind the phenomena.
