PROVINCIAL Board Member Gerardo Sabal said on Tuesday, January 15, the inter-agency composite team is now working to hasten the repacking of the remaining bulk of imported trash so it can also be sent back to South Korea the soonest.
Sabal said the remaining 5,100 tons of garbage that arrived first in Tagoloan town in July 2018 was transferred to the facility of Verde Soko in Barangay Sta. Cruz. It must be repacked as around 30 percent of the bags were already torn and various wastes may already have scattered on the ground.
The 1,400 tons of hazardous wastes that arrived next at the Mindanao International Container Terminal in Tagoloan in October 2018 were already sent back to South Korea on Sunday, January 13.
Sabal said the cost of shipping back the remaining garbage is between P8 million to P10 million.
He said all agencies involved, including Verde Soko, will still have to sit down to determine who will shoulder the shipping expenses.
More than P2 million was shouldered by South Korean government, he added.
Sabal said the Provincial Government would be thankful if the investigation of the House of Representatives on the illegal garbage shipments will start.
"Magpasalamat kita sa House of Representatives kay sila man ang naay contempt and sanctioning power. Kita sa Sangguniang Panlalawigan wala man ta’y authority (We would like to thank the House of Representatives because they are the ones who have contempt and sanctioning power. We in the Provincial Board have no authority)," he added.
Sabal said the Provincial Government and other agencies such as the Bureau of Customs and Department of Environment and Natural Resources were successful in returning the garbage back to South Korea at the provincial level.
He said the Provincial Board did not have the bad intention of not informing Second District Representative Juliette Uy of the imported trash.
Uy said she should not be blamed as she only knew the illegal garbage shipments in November 2018.
“Dili namo ni undangan mga Mindanao lawmakers busa ayaw mo pag-blame sa ako kay wala ko kasayod ani. Kung nakabalo pa lang ko ani nga since July pa diay, dugay na unta nato ni na-investigate. Hilom ra man. Dako ni nga issue ug dili pwede nga kamo-kamo lang (We the Mindanao lawmakers won’t stop, that is why don’t blame me because I don’t know about this. If I knew about this since July, I would have let this investigated. It was quiet. This is a big issue and this is not only for you)," Uy said.
But Sabal clarified that no one is blaming Uy and that what they do first was to verify the shipment, which led to the investigation.
“No one is blaming Congresswoman Uy, ang iyang giingon nga wala mi moduol sa iya kay ang among gihimo nga tikang is para masuta kung tinuod ba nga basura ang shipments (we want to take a step in order to know if the shipments are trashes), then nag-coordinate mi sa Bureau of Customs and Department of Environment and Natural Resources," Sabal said.
He said the Provincial Board tried to resolve the issue first on the provincial level, which he said was successful because the first batch of wastes was already sent back to South Korea.