MANILA -- M/V Hongchang, the first mother vessel to ship out the dredged silt materials from the mouth of the Cagayan River, arrived at the Aparri Offshore on 14 July 2021.
Despite the scorching heat, the high waves of the Aparri Delta and the COVID-19 pandemic threat, boarding authorities from the Bureaus of Customs (BOC), Human Quarantine (BOQ), Plant Quarantine (BPI), Animal Quarantine (BAI), Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), conducted offshore boarding formalities on the said vessel.
The said vessel, which can load up to 60,000 (estimate) metric tons of dredged silt materials, is chartered by the Riverfront Construction Inc., one of the two companies who have been granted the Permit To Operate as Dredger/Operator after complying all the documentary and cash bond requisites set by the Inter-agency Committee for the Cagayan River Restoration Project.
Said committee is composed of the Provincial Government of Cagayan, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Public Works and Highways, Mines and Geosciences Bureau and Environmental Management bureau.
The other qualified Dredger/Operator is the Great River North Consortium.
The Cagayan River Restoration Project is a product of the directive of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to dredge all heavily-silted river channels throughout our country to prevent the worsening massive and mega floods that have been tormenting our nation almost every year from happening again.
After the said project, the Provincial government of Cagayan is planning to rehabilitate the long-time non-operational Aparri Pier (Port). (BOC)
