The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has dispatched two (2) new amphibious excavators (amphex) to dredge the silted and hyacinth-clogged Liguasan Marsh in Central Mindanao.
DPWH Region 12 OIC-Director Basir M. Ibrahim said Liguasan Marsh – a premier but critical wetland ecosystem along Rio Grande de Mindanao, second largest river in the Philippines, spanning the regions of Central Mindanao, the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and Southern Mindanao - needs declogging as volume of water hyacinths are blocking waterways.
“Water hyacinths have blocked waterways, causing flooding in Cotabato City and nearby communities, and taking weeks to subside in low-lying areas. These new equipment will augment our team working on disilting the river,” said OIC-Director Ibrahim.
“Dredging activities will declog the stream and correspondingly address flooding within the vicinity of some portions of Maguindanao and Cotabato City,” added OIC-Director Ibrahim.
Additional amphex were strategically deployed and have started operating since August 2017 in Olandang Bridge, Midsayap, Cotabato.
Dredge waste from activities will be used as filling materials to low areas while water hyacinths will be processed as one of the projects of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
DPWH is part of the Liguasan Marsh Task Force which is composed of other line agencies such as Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Woodland Consultants, Inc., Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO)-North Cotabato, Regional Planning and Development Office (RPDO)-ARMM, and Mujtamaah Liguasan Association, Inc. in Region XII and ARMM, and spearheaded by the DA.