DAGUPAN CITY, Nov. 29 (PNA)–Dredging of the shallow Calmay River is now in full blast following the arrival of diesel fuel for the three dredging machines of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) from Manila that had been idling here for months, according to Mayor Belen Fernandez
Fernandez expressed jubilation over the resumption of dredging as she expressed hope the DPWH gave the three dredging machines enough fuel to last for several months, so there shall be no more interruption in their dredging activities up to at least before next year’s rainy season.
Three dredging machines, one them brand new, are all simultaneously working on a big mass of land in Sitio Guebang, Barangay Pantal at a point where the waters of the Calmay River meet before they empty into the Lingayen Gulf, where there is now a big mass of silt as big as a baseball field that had formed,
The others are the old reliable Dredge Visaya and its smaller version which has just been repaired in early part of this year.
Observers said the big mass of land was formed when illegal fishpens were allowed to teem in the lower stream of the Calmay River during the past city administration thus hindering the flow of debris from upstream of the Pantal River from flowing straight to the Lingayen Gulf.
The three dredging machines at work are depositing the dredged silt on a private land in Sitio Guebang, Pantal, which is reportedly being eyed to be bought by the city government as location of the new Dagupan city hall set to rise by next year. (PNA)