THE local government of Floridablanca has issued a cease and desist order against a piggery farm in Barangay Gutad.
In a letter dated September 24, 2019 and signed by Mayor Darwin Manalansan, Evergreen Bioscience Technologies Inc. was ordered to stop operating the piggery farm for alleged violation of the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC).
Manalansan said the farm, owned by Charlie Hsieh, has reportedly failed to eradicate the foul odor, which has brought flies and which is being complained by residents of Barangays Gutad, Anon and Bodega.
He said that on August 9, the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (Menro) and Municipal Health Office issued a warning against the piggery farm to eradicate the foul odor in 30 days, saying failure to do so will result in its closure.
Manalansan said the piggery farm has continued to ignore the warning of the local government and is considered allegedly a "nuisance" to the community.
He said the closure order was issued upon the recommendation of the Environment Natural Resources Office (Enro) and Menro, which conducted a surprise joint inspection last September 3 due to the continued complaints of residents that foul odor has been emanating from the piggery farm.
"During the surprise inspection, it was found out that there was no recent development despite earlier directive to fix the problem," Manalansan said.
He said the monitoring team also noted several violations of the ECC, such as failure to implement proper housekeeping practices to prevent generation of obnoxious odor and proliferation of flies in the area and adjacent vicinities and that the mortality pit is not provided with adequate lining to prevent contamination of ground water.
"In view of the foregoing recommendation of the monitoring team [Enro and Menro] to promote the general welfare of our constituents, you are hereby directed to cease and desist from operating your piggery farm upon receipt of this letter," Manalansan said.
He said the piggery farm was given 30 days to remove all animals, machines and other equipment used in its operation.
After 30 days, the local government will have the piggery farm complex completely locked and no people and vehicles will be allowed to enter and leave the premises. (Chris Navarro)