LOCAL and international environmental groups called out the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (JICA) after the development agency said it is neither implementing nor funding the proposed waste-to-energy (WTE) project in Davao City.
In an open letter dated January 30, 2023, the advocacy groups said JICA is disclaiming and showing a “lack of accountability” on their previous stand about the WTE, this is after various groups called out the agency to withdraw their support on the said project.
They said JICA has been “instrumental” with the entry of WTE incinerators in the country since 2010 in a bid of promoting and disseminating Japanese technology to other countries. Their support was cemented after they signed a grant agreement of P2.052 billion as partial funding for the WTE project in Davao City.
The groups added that JICA also facilitated in the development of waste management guidelines, supported interagency meetings to discuss implementation arrangements, and facilitated learning tours of government officials and waste regulators to the WTE incinerator sites in Japan.
“(We) are deeply concerned about the integrity of the statements recently released by JICA for its lack of accountability on past and present efforts in promoting and investing in false solutions to waste management and climate in Davao City... JICA has continued promoting its Japanese technology despite a standing legal ban on incinerators now being defended by environmental advocates in the Supreme Court and in the midst of City-wide opposition to the project,” the letter stated.
Last January 26, JICA senior representative Ide Soichiro said in a statement that the agency is neither funding nor implementing the WTE incinerator facility in Davao City.
“We would like to clarify that JICA is neither funding nor implementing the WTE facility project,” Soichiro said.
The project has long been opposed by various environmental groups on the basis that WTE incinerators can emit toxins such as dioxins and furans that could gravely affect 20 barangays and nearby communities surrounding the proposed site of the facility, which is a 10-hectare land in Barangay Biao Escuela.
Executive director of the Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (Idis) Mark Peñalver said the WTE incinerator also requires a specific type of waste in order to operate that Davao City may not be able to provide.
The facility could also give implications for crop and soil health, air quality, and ecosystems in the said area where almost half of it is used for agriculture such as cultivating bananas, pineapples, coffee, and coconuts.
The open letter was signed by national groups including Idis, Ecoteneo, Ecowaste Coalition, and Sustainable Davao Movement, among others. Organizations from India, Bangladesh, Malaysia Vietnam, China, United Kingdom, United States of America, Mongolia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Argentina also signed to support the cause.
“We respectfully urge JICA to withdraw its support for Waste-to-Energy in Davao City and elsewhere in the country in respect to our ban on incinerators. We also encourage JICA to ensure transparency and accountability in their development projects to ensure that the benefits of the development vision are equitably shared with and for disadvantaged groups,” they said. ICM