Board Member Andrew Montelibano disclosed yesterday, January 19, that at least 1,000 quarry application are currently pending before the Provincial Environment Management Office.
Montelibano who chairs the committee on environment at the Sanggunian Panlalawigan said that these applications are needed to be reviewed after receiving reports of illegal quarrying in some parts in the province.
He said that his office receive just recently a complaint of an alleged illegal quarry operation in the town of Manapla which allegedly damaged a bridge.
Montelibano plans to kick-off his inspection next week in third district to verify and validate if quarry operators are compliant with environmental guidelines.He will also validate report if these activities were the caused of the recent flooding.
Aside from illegal quarrying, Montelibano said he also receive reports of illegal logging activities following the massive flooding in North Negros that affected over 100,000 individuals.
