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Sunday, January 25, 2004
DENR to impose fines v. solid waste act violators
DAVAO CITY -- Stiff penalties await local and barangay officials in the country who fail to implement the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, said Elisea Gozon, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) secretary.
The law provides that municipalities and cities are liable to pay the monthly fine of P50,000 if they fail to implement solid waste management.
Speaking before local officials and barangay leaders during the 1st Ecological Solid Waste Management Summit recently, Gozun said barangay officials and local governments are mandated to spearhead the implementation of the segregation and collection of solid waste.
Gozon said the law not only prohibits mix-type of garbage disposal, but also bans burning of waste materials.
"What we do to our environment today would go back to us," she said.
Gozon encouraged barangay leaders to introduce composting.
"The composting method is ideal to produce an organic fertilizer that would promote a sustainable agriculture as well," she said.
"Composting is also a good source of organic fertilizer for backyard gardening," she said.
Gozun said local government units can avail of the Development Bank of the Philippines' (DBP) Sustainable Solid Waste Management Program (Swamp), a financing program that supports solid waste management.
Swamp is a dedicated financing program on solid waste management designed primarily to assist LGUs in the development and implementation of their solid waste management (SWM) plans by providing financial and technical assistance.
The financing facility aims to support programs on source reduction and waste minimization such as composting, recycling, reuse, recovery, and others prior to collection, treatment, and disposal.
The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 calls for waste reduction at source through segregation, recycling and composting.
The law also mandates the establishment of a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in every barangay or cluster of barangays, which will receive, sort, process, and store compostable and recyclable materials for proper disposal or sale to composters and junk shop owners.
Health care waste
Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) reiterated the hazardous effect of waste from health care establishments.
Milagros Fernandez, DOH undersecretary for Visayas and Mindanao, said there must be proper disposal of waste from hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and laboratories.
Fernandez said garbage from these establishments threatens the health of communities exposed to the hazardous waste materials, as these contain infectious disease, pathological agents, and chemicals that are genotoxic and radioactive.
In waste disposal, DOH is asking hospital administrators to use the color-coding method:
* Green for wet and non-infectious disease;
* Red for aerosols and gas containers;
* Yellow for infectious waste and
* Orange for sharp and radioactive waste.
Fernandez also encouraged health care establishments to use composting with their wet and non-infectious waste or disposed in a safe septic tank or containers.
"It must be stored in a receptacle with green color or in a garbage holding area for composting," she said. CIO
(January 25, 2004 issue)
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