THE Cebu City Council wants the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) 7 of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 to provide an inventory of all hospital and medical waste facilities and other third party providers in Cebu and their status.
In his approved resolution, Councilor Joel Garganera also requested all public and private hospitals in the city to submit a report on the process and status of their medical waste disposal.
The move came after Garganera found out that medical wastes in several public and private hospitals had not been collected for at least four months because of the absence of an accredited treatment, storage and disposal (TSD) facility.
The Pollution Abatement Systems Specialists Inc., the TSD provider of the Cebu City Medical Center and the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, recently announced, though, that it has resumed its operation of collecting infectious medical wastes.
“There is a need to be updated on the current status and processes of hospital and medical waste disposal in the City of Cebu to prevent any environmental damage and health risks and hazards to the residents surrounding the communities,” Garganera said in his resolution.
The councilor said solid waste management and medical waste disposal and treatment are some of the main concerns of local government units.
Garganera also pushed for an executive session on Jan. 30 with EMB 7 Director William Cuñado, DENR 7 Executive Director Gilbert Gonzales and representatives of health care and TSD facilities.
He had said medical clinics and hospitals in the city were worried about the consequences of storing their wastes within their premises because of the absence of an accredited TSD facility.
The operation of the Davao City Environmental Care Inc., another TSD facility operator, was suspended after medical wastes it was supposed to treat and dispose of were found floating in the Mactan Channel or washed ashore in the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.