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Stakeholders
of the multi-million dollar seaweeds industry mostly located
in the northernwestern part of the province urged authorities
concerned to strictly enforce the waste disposal management
to avoid pollution in said area where most of the seaweed
plantation and Double Barrier Coral Reef are located.
The
participants, composed of private and business sectors, government
agencies and seaweed growers, processors and traders, who
participated in the workshop of the Bohol Agricultural Value
Chain (AVC) study came up with this recommendation during
the Development Plan Workshop held here recently.
The
activity was sponsored by the Provincial Government of Bohol
and the Local Government and Development Program (LGDP) funded
by the Australian Aid and conducted by the Strategic Development
Center-Asia.
It
tackled four areas of concern that must be planned out and
implemented within the three-year period (2008-2010). These
were the a) investment plan; marketing plan; human resource
development; policy/enabling environment under the seaweed
sub-sector.
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Under
the 4th area (policy/environment), participants pushed
for the stern enforcement of the environmental laws
on waste disposal by the government agencies concerned.
The
group found that seaweed growers are, not only facing
the problem of mounting used synthetic or plastic straw
for tying seaweed seedlings, but also the use of chemical
for the seaweed harvest.
The
Bureau of Fishery and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) confirmed
the use of "sodium hydrochloride" (in powder
form) that is being used to soak the newly harvested
seaweeds prior to drying.
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Regulation
of the use of this chemical before drying the harvest has
not been enforced, the participants said.
Some
island seaweed growers expressed fears that these chemicals
after their use might found their way to the deep sea in the
form of effluents that are potential pollutants.
Earlier,
barangay captain of Hingutanan island, off Bien-Unido town,
said that remnants of plastic straw used as ropes are stockpiling
up to almost a ton everyday during harvest season. Worse,
he said, some of those solid wastes are dumped by growers
themselves to the sea near the channel between Bohol and Leyte
provinces because it cost them a lot to transport them to
the mainland about an hour by motorized banca.
LGDP
in tandem with the PGB said that the Bohol AVC is an important
action in marshalling and promoting the optimum utilization
of the resources in Bohol.
Aside
from seaweeds, other sub-sectors include rice and hogs, which
were also tackled during the workshop using the same four
areas of concerns.
The
workshop adopted the participatory approach in the value chain
study to be effective as meaningful and as committed participation
of the industry stakeholders, said SDC manager Marian Boquiren.
(RVO)
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