NLEX, DENR, Valenzuela LGU work on Harbor Link Interchange greening

The NLEX Corporation has teamed up with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Valenzuela City government to conduct a greening initiative at the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Harbor Link interchange.

Spearheading the said initiative are House Deputy Speaker and Valenzuela City 2nd District Representative Eric Martinez, NLEX Corporation President and General Manager J. Luigi Bautista, and DENR Regional Executive Director Jacqueline Caancan.

A total of 3,181 saplings were planted at the Harbor Link Interchange, which is expected to contribute to cleaner air and healthier ecology along the expressway. Saplings of bougainvillea, igem dagat, and Palawan cherry were among those planted within the cloverleaf interchange to help neutralize carbon emissions from vehicles using the thoroughfare.

“I envision NLEX to be the greenest highway, not only in the country but in the whole world — the greenest highway with zero carbon footprint,” Martinez shared, noting that global warming is the biggest threat to mankind. “We are preoccupied with so many things but we have to look back and see for ourselves that nature needs care, nature needs us. We don’t need to go against it but we have to live together,” the Deputy Speaker claimed.

Caancan regarded the event as timely as it coincides with the celebration of the Philippine Environment Month and the Philippine Arbor Day. 

“More than the aesthetic value of the project, what we are excited about is the greater value of these trees that would be planted. Let us join hands in keeping, protecting and nourishing our environment,” Caancan said.

For his part, Bautista stated that the “project will not only beautify the NLEX Harbor Link Interchange, but most importantly, it will help strengthen our efforts in building the road to a greener future.”

Further, he expressed appreciation over the proposal of Martinez to conduct the activity and DENR for planning the project.  “We believe that our duty is not only to make travel easier and more convenient for economic growth but also to do it in an environmentally sustainable manner,” Bautista said.

Since 2006, the NLEX Corporation has been doing the“#GreeNLEX: Greening the NLEX,” to help reduce the effects of global warming and environmental imbalance as part of the toll operator’s corporate social responsibility program.

Photos from NLEX Corporation

Also read:

NLEX implements heightened safety initiatives

NLEX initiatives, projects gain support from Pampanga business group

NLEX elevated connector now stretches to Manila