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Sunday, November 23, 2003
Dagupan supports waste mgm't circular
By Orpheus M. Velasco
WASTE Management Division Chief Reggie Ubando said the city is on track in its solid waste management program and may even serve as a model for other local government units.
Ubando made this statement in support of the circular of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Elisea G. Gozun and Interior and Local Government Secretary Joey Lina.
The circular reminds all local government units (LGUs) to implement Republic Act 9003, Article 6 Section 37, requiring government units to convert their open dumpsites to controlled dumpsites, then to Sanitary Landfill.
The circular noted that: "No open dumpsites shall be allowed nor operated following the effectivity of the Act with a reckoning date of January 6, 2002." It added that, "the operation of controlled dumpsites shall be shifted to controlled disposal within three years after the Act's effectivity or on January 6, 2005." And by January 2007, "controlled dump facilities should be converted into sanitary landfills."
Ubando said from the very start, the administration of Mayor Benjamin S. Lim has put it as one of its top agenda the phasing out of the 40-year-old open dumpsite in Bonuan Boquig, which has been emitting pollutants for decades.
Earlier, Mayor Lim said 60 percent of the entire dumpsite has already been closed as it is now being converted into a park.
"We are actually ahead compared to most LGUs in implementing Republic Act 9003," Mayor Lim said, noting that as a former congressman, he is very much aware of the national law.
"Therefore, we have been preparing for the construction of a sanitary landfill," Lim said.
Ubando said the remaining portion of the dumpsite is already undergoing pre-closure operations. "We just need cover soil for the remaining dumping area and we are thinking of using carbonized rice husk in lieu of cover soil, which is already hard to find," Ubando said.
"We are also fine-tuning an innovative project of using indigenous materials in pumping out methane gas from under the reclaimed areas," he said.
Ubando said the City is also consolidating the barangays to work out redemption centers and a composting program in every barangay.
As of now, no single municipality or city has attained full operation of a sanitary landfill. Those that are in the development stage are located in Bulacan and Nueva Ecija, according to Ubando.
The most visited model dumpsite in San Fernando, La Union is only a controlled dumpsite set to be developed as a sanitary landfill, Ubando revealed.
He said with the circular of the DENR, people in San Jacinto may finally realize that they themselves need the sanitary landfill, which Dagupan City has been offering to put up.
"We plan to come out with an integrated solid waste management system in Awai, San Jacinto," Ubando said, "where there is a composting center, recycling center and sanitary landfill."
"San Jacinto's economy will surely surge when this program is set in place," Ubando said, stressing a sanitary landfill, plus recycling center "are not only environment friendly" but would also generate huge revenues.
(November 22, 2003 issue)
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