City of San Fernando — Central Luzon produces an average of five thousand tons of garbage daily including agricultural, industrial, medical and domestic waste in seven provinces and two cities but only 12 sanitary landfills exist to accommodate the waste.
The amount of garbage also include recyclables and non-biodegradable materials. The residual wastes are common in open dumpsites which have been subject of complaints due to foul smell, said Andresito Cabalar, of the Solid Waste Management Office DENR-EMB in Central Luzon.
“It’s the reason why our office has to shut down the open dumpsite nt only due to pollutionbut also for violation of the Ecological and Solid Waste Management Act,” Cabalar added.
The LGUs, Cabalar said, must have an approved 10-year Solid Waste Management Plan to address the mounting garbage problem.
“We also encourage LGUs to recycle and segregates the biodegradable from the non-biodegradable maerials in their respective Material Recovery Facilities (MRF). A total of 117 composter and shredding machines have been distributed to different cities and municipalities in the region to compliment their solid waste management plan,” said Cabalar.
The Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation, the only engineered sanitary landfill in Central Luzon, is a big help in preventing garbage crisis in the region, he said.
The MCWMC has a 70-hectare lot intended for various kinds of garbage including medical waste. It can accommodate more than 2,000 tons of garbage per day and only 17 hectare of the land have been utilized.
The campaign against open dumpsite, Cabalar said, is part of the DENR-EMB sustain program.
“In fact , five LGUs in Central Luzon have been held liable due to the existence of open dumpsites, a prohibited garbage depository area which were recentlyshuttered by the DENR-EMB.
Cabalar said violation of the Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act against two of the LGUs in region 3 including Sta Ana in Pampanga and Malolos City in Bulacan have been endorsed to the Department of Interior and Local Government for action.
“Administrative cases against the officials of the two LGUs have been endorsed to DILG,” said Cabalar.
Other areas with open dumps are the towns of Talavera in Nueva Ecija, Angeles City and Dipaculao, Aurora. The three LGUs were issued orders to come up with a Safe Closure and Rehabilitation Plan.
“We made sure that these dumps will cease and desist from operation by regularly monitoring the concerned areas,” Cabalar said.
