SAN ISIDRO,
Davao Oriental, 21 June (PIA)--- Planting of Cavendish banana is banned in San
Isidro, Municipal Mayor Justina Yu said
over the weekend.
In an
interview during the 50th founding day of the municipality, Mayor Yu revealed
that the Municipal Council recently passed an ordinance prohibiting the
planting of Cavendish banana anywhere in
the province including those turned over to small farmers through the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program (CARP).
She wanted to
spare the rare species of insects, butterflies and even plants from dying and
getting extinct in later years due to
pesticides and harmful chemicals
that could reach through air, the Mt
Hamiguitan declared by UNESCO as World
Heritage Site.
“We might be
delisted eventually,” she said referring to the UNESCO inscription of Mt.
Hamiguitan known for its untouched rare flora and fauna.
She revealed
that agents of banana plantation companies had lobbied for permission to plant through contracts with CARP owners who,
Yu said, also showed resistance to such municipal policy.
To assist
CARP landowners, Yu had mobilized the
farm technicians of the Municipal Government to check soil quality of lands under CARP
and assist owners to make their lands
productive.
Water system
had been installed and that necessary land preparation had already been made,
she said.
Meanwhile, Mayor Yu appealed to fellow local government leaders especially
those at the provincial level to spare San Isidro from mining and to
help her protect it from illegal cutting of trees and illegal fishing.
“Please leave
San Isidro as your crown, your jewel.
Let it not be touched by mining, by illegal cutting of trees and let our
seas be untouched by illegal fishing methods,”
Yu said while addressing the same message to her constituents.
She made the
call based on observation that most of the towns in the province of Davao
Oriental had already been accommodating mining activities. (PIA 11/Jeanevive Duron Abangan)
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