PNG logs wash ashore in Philippines
09 March 2021
TONETTE OREJAS
| Philippine Daily Inquirer
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — Fishermen in Aurora Province have retrieved more logs believed to have come from Papua New Guinea.
Since the logs were first seen floating off Aurora last month, 632 have been recovered.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Philippine Coast Guard have sent a reconnaissance team to check if more logs are still floating.
With different lengths and widths, the logs bore stickers marked ‘Papua New Guinea Forest Authority’, DENR and police photographs showed.
DENR provincial officer Alfred Collado clarified that the logs were not locally cut because tree species like Terminalia brassii and Pometia are native to Papua New Guinea.
Oyster and algae growth indicate the logs had been floating in water for some time.
Collado said the logs, piled up in various locations, are now in the custody of DENR teams, police, and barangay councils.
He said the Papua New Guinea government has not replied yet to the information relayed by the Philippines about the logs.
The fishermen who towed the logs to shore explicitly told the DENR of wanting to own or use these if not claimed by the true owner.
The fishermen also asked to be paid for fuel and labor should the owner retake the logs.
“They’re been waiting for updates. Some are impatient but they try to understand,” Collado said.
Strange how the logs got to their watery grave in the first place. I wonder were they thrown away or it had been an accident and I also wonder who was shipping them out of the country.
😏
Posted by: Hazel Kutkue | 09 March 2021 at 04:40 PM