THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Tuesday blamed the weak enforcement of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 for the garbage landslide that occurred at a sanitary landfill in Binaliw, Cebu City.
During yesterday’s 25th anniversary of the law in Quezon City, DENR Secretary Raphael Lotilla said the Binaliw garbage collapse “reminds us of a weak implementation of RA 9003.”
A large pile of garbage collapsed, leaving 36 people dead and 18 others injured in Binaliw, Cebu on January 8. Lotilla stressed the need for a stronger political will among local government units, and for an urgency to revisit the law.
Under RA 9003, LGUs, including the barangays, are mandated to enforce solid waste management.Lotilla raised the law was not consistently implemented, citing “urbanization continues to generate pressure on our waste systems, and incidents like the one that took place in the Cebu landfill tragedy remind us of the cost of weak compliance.”
He said the provisions under RA 9003 are still sound and acceptable.
He, however, lamented the law’s failure lies on poor implementation.The DENR is now actively participating in congressional discussions on the proposed amendments RA 9003, including the use of new waste management technologies and accountability along the waste chain from households to the LGUs.
Lotilla said they are discussing possible amendments of some provisions of the law with Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo, who was then the President when she signed the law on January 26, 2001.
He said Arroyo is batting for an amendment of the law to introduce waste-to-energy procedure or incineration and other modern technologies that could meet environmental standards.
Incineration through burning of solid wastes is prohibited under RA 9003.
