By Dexter See
March 7, 2009, 12:00am [ Manila Bulletin Online ]
Despite ultimatum issued by Environmental Management Bureau
BAGUIO CITY — This mountain resort city seems to be the favorite of concerned government agencies tasked with enforcing the provisions of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (ESWMA).
Despite several warnings issued to the city government on the immediate need to establish its sanitary landfill as required ESWMA, the city has yet to comply with the law.
The delay was blamed on the squabbling among city officials over which of proposed sites is suitable for the establishment of its sanitary landfill.
Joyce Mangsat, solid waste coordinator of the Environmental Management Bureau EMB) in the Cordillera, said the city government has not yet submitted to EMB its proposed site for its sanitary landfill despite the fact that it had earlier issued the final warning for it to do so.
What was given to Codillera EMB office, the official said, is the plan that it would implement after its disposal of solid wastes in the Capas (Tarlac) landfill commences in the next three months.
Under the city’s present solid-waste disposal plan, the over 200 tons of daily garbage now being disposed of in Tarlac would be dumped in the foreign-assisted sanitary landfill in San Fernando City, La Union.
This will be done after the proposed P70-million budget set aside by the city council last year is exhausted in the next three months.
Although the city government has trimmed down the long list of possible sanitary landfill sites to only five, it has not yet come out with a decision on which area it will choose. As a result, the city has yet to comply with ESWMA.
The law requires all local government units (LGUs) to stop the operations of their open dumpsites and convert them into sanitary landfill or controlled dumpsite.
The LGUs have three years to comply with the law that was enacted in 2000.
Eight years have elapsed, but the city has not yet complied with the law. For this failure to follow the law, city officials could face administrative and criminal charges.
Mangsat said EMB has been very lenient with the city government, but it seems City Hall is not working hard to establish its sanitary landfill.
Earlier, Mayor Reinaldo A. Bautista Jr. announced he favors the three-hectare, city-owned property in Barangay Sto. Tomas Apugan as the site for its sanitary landfill because it would be cheaper and more accessible compared to the other proposed sites.
Residents of Itogon, Tuba and Sablan have expressed their vehement opposition to the plan of the city government to set up its sanitary landfill in their areas even if landowners have already offered their private properties for the purpose.
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