Scholarship for ex-fish pen caretakers’ kids
HELP FOR DISPLACED WORKERS
CHILDREN of fish pen caretakers who lost their job following the demolition of illegal structures in Dagupan’s rivers will be offered scholarships by the city government.
Mayor Belen Fernandez announced in her weekly executive session with department heads last Monday, that the city will provide educational assistance to parents who lost their livelihood.
She said she directed the inclusion of the children of the displaced fish pen workers in the city’s scholarship program because they are poor “and it is also our obligation to help them as they are also from Dagupan.”
The City Agriculture Office (CAO) has a list of caretakers of the demolished fish pens.
The owners of the illegal structures were mostly from outside Dagupan and employed locals to look after their contraptions.
Records of the CAO show there were more than 200 illegal fish pens, of which only 43 remain after the demolition carried out as part of a program to clear the city’s rivers.
The owners of the remaining 43 have been granted until April 30 this year to allow their fish stock to grow to marketable size before harvesting, but must voluntarily dismantle their structures after the deadline.
The remaining fish pens were among 68 structures earlier spared from the first wave of demolition last year as these were built on supposedly titled lands or covered by supposed tax certificates issued by the City Assessors Office.
However, the city government ruled that since these lands are now part of rivers, these have become public domain under the jurisdiction of the state.—LVM
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