Economy

Davao?s Unsafe Beach Resorts Won?t Be Promoted: DOT

Nine beaches in the city failed? water-sampling tests
DAVAO CITY — Despite marketing Davao City as a premier islands-to-highland getaway and a land of cool highlands and sunny beaches, the Department of Tourism in Southern Mindanao will not promote beaches or resorts that fail to pass the safety standards set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

?DOT will not promote unsafe beaches. We respect DENR?s findings,? said Roger Layson, assistant regional director for DOT in Southern Mindanao.

Last Sunday at his weekly television show Gikan sa Masa, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte read a letter from the Center for Health Development Davao Region of the Inter-Regional Inter-Agency Committee. The letter contained the list of nine beaches in the city, which had failed the water-sampling test conducted by the DENR-Environmental Management Bureau.

The beaches were found to have high pathological contamination and indicated severe water pollution. All of these unsafe beaches were located along Davao City?s coastline.
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Expert Warns of Davao Water Crisis Due to Plantations

DAVAO CITY — An environmental activist from Cebu City has warned about the wanton destruction of the upland watershed areas of Davao City disguised as development, saying this could deplete the city?s supply of clean and fresh water.

?You want to lose water? Put up plantations in your upland watershed areas and kiss your water goodbye,? said Aida Granert of the Cebu-based non-government organization Soil and Water Conservation Foundation Inc.

Granert was here Wednesday for the worldwide observation of Water Day. She shared information on how environmental fighters, government agencies, and other stakeholders in Davao can save the water sources of Davao based on Cebu?s own experiences.

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