By Ferdinand Fabella

Government agencies and environment advocates have come together to launch a seven-year detoxification of a 24-kilometer stretch of the Pasig River.

Called ?Kapit Bisig sa Ilog Pasig,? the project calls for resettling thousands of squatters along the riverbanks, introduction of community-based waste management programs and a massive media campaign to raise the public?s consciousness on measures that are doable.

?No matter how much money you spend to clean the river, it?s still going to be dirty. We have to change the way we look at the river,? Regina Lopez, managing director of the ABS-CBN Foundation Inc., said in yesterday?s kick-off rites at the Makati Park and Garden.

Lopez signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, through the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission, making the foundation co-manager of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Project.

She said Kapit Bisig needed to raise at least P700 million to afford the technology and operational expenses to achieve ?zero toxic input? in seven years, to include tributaries, esteros and creeks.

A centerpiece of the project is transferring illegal settlers to two sites opened by the foudation in Rodriguez, Rizal and Calauan, Laguna.

?This year, we will be relocating 1,100 illegal settlers to our relocation sites,? Lopez said, adding that 800 housing units at the Calauan site are ready for occupancy by June.

The reservation will have a school, health and sports facilities, sustained by livelihood projects for residents, who will also train on solid waste management and environmental protection measures.

Lopez said they would also establish Clean River Zones near the tributaries in Quezon City and the cities of Mandaluyong, Marikina, San Juan, Taguig, Makati, Pasig and Pateros town.

Each zone, she added, would have a materials recovery facility, a bio-digester to harvest methane from biodegrable refuse, a vermicompost processor, a waste shredder and styro oven.

Also vowing support to the Kapit Bisig program are Manila Water Co., Maynilad Water Services Inc., Department of Science and Technology and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.