SOME 77 local government units (LGUs) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) were lauded by the Environment Management Bureau (EMB) for formulating their own 10-year solid waste management plan as initial compliance to the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.
EMB-CAR Regional Director Reynaldo Digamo said the 75 municipalities and two cities initially complied with the provisions of the law on solid waste management.
The implementation of the projects detailed in their plans would be another matter they will have to contend with since the EMB will stringently monitor the implementation the plan of these local governments.
The National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) approved 20 solid waste management plans, conditionally approved 19, conducting a review of 28 and have returned 10 to the concerned local governments for possible revision to conform to prevailing standards on solid waste management.
Of the 20 approved 10-year solid waste management plans, six local governments were in Abra, namely, Tineg, Bangued, Dangla, La Paz, Licuan-Baay and San Juan; all seven towns of Apayao, namely, Conner, Calanasan, Flora, Kabugao, Luna, Pudtol and Sta. Marcela; two in Benguet, particularly La Trinidad and Mankayan; three in Ifugao, namely, Mayoyao, Lamut and Banaue ;one in Kalinga and Baguio City.
“For the local governments that were issued conditional approval, there are some minor adjustments to be done by the concerned local governments in compliance to the stipulations of the law, while those plans that were returned will have to be assessed and evaluated by the local government to incorporate the recommendations of the Commission,” Digamo said.
Under the law, all local governments are mandated to close the operation of their open dump facilities and replace them with environmental-friendly disposal facilities like controlled dump sites, engineered sanitary landfills for the protection of the health of the people and the preservation of the state of the environment.
“The 10-year grace period for local governments to comply with the submission of their 10-year solid waste disposal plans have lapsed over a decade ago and local governments should now be implementing projects contained in their plans for the benefit of a safer environment and guaranteed better health for their constituents,” Digamo added.