The Cebu City Council yesterday asked the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Natural Resources to require land developers in the city to plan fruit-bearing trees equal to the number of houses they intend to build.

Councilor Nestor Archival, chairman of the council committee on environment, said the plating of fruit-bearing trees should be made one of the requirements to secure an Environmental Compliance Certificate.

Archival proposed that DENR officials should coordinate with barangay officials to ensure that the requirement be complied with by the land developers.

The move, Archival said, will help preserve the environment.

Earlier, an environmentalist asked: "Can we afford to clear the areas of their forest cover, exposing the hillsides to landslides and low-lying areas to flash floods?"

According to him, development cannot be ignored but environmental protection should also be the prime concern.

It was suggested that the council should pass an ordinance to regulate land development, particularly in the upland areas.  Unregulated development of hillsides would mean greater risk to those living in low areas.

Last year, the city relocated several families in Barangay Guadalupe that are affected by floodwater allegedly sliding down from the hilly portion of the barangay that is being developed for an upscale housing subdivision.

Reference: The Freeman, 17 December 2009, p. 6 by Rene U. Borromeo/LPM