DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Tuesday said that complaints are ready for filing against some local government units (LGUs) in Negros Oriental before the Office of the Ombudsman for failure to comply with the law mandating the establishment of a sanitary landfill.
Forester Loreto Revac of the DENR-EMB disclosed this during a forum in the provincial capital, Dumaguete City, and sponsored by the Philippine Information Agency in line with the celebration of World Environment Day Monday.
Revac, however, declined to identify which LGUs could be facing a complaint with the Ombudsman.
He said it has been like 18 long years since Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 was passed, and it mandates that LGUs establish a sanitary landfill as open dumpsites are already outlawed.
“We can’t say when (the complaints will be filed) and we don’t want to, but it has been 18 years already” since the law was passed, Revac said.
“We’re hoping that the local executives can catch up” and establish the mandated sanitary landfill or find an alternative solution to solid waste management, such as setting up a material recovery facility and impose segregation at source before it’s too late, he said.
According to Revac, the DENR-EMB has repeatedly sent out closure notices to LGUs that still do not have sanitary landfills or have not even shown interest such as searching for a potential site for the facility.
“This is not a matter of choice but a mandate to follow,” he said.
In Negros Oriental, Bayawan City in the south is the model in the entire Region 7 (Central Visayas provinces of Bohol, Cebu, Siquijor and Negros Oriental), for having established a sanitary landfill that meets the government standards and requirements, Revac said.
And this is because of the “political will and commitment of the LGU executive,” he added.
LGUs in Negros Oriental that are now in the process of establishing sanitary landfills are Canlaon City, Tayasan, and Tanjay City, while Bais City, which used to have one during the previous administration, has reverted to an open dumpsite, due to a change in administration.
Dumaguete City, meanwhile, is still finalizing the proposed site for its sanitary landfill in Barangay Candauay.
However, the site has been strongly opposed by residents and other quarters that say that it is not suitable for a number of reasons.
Fr. Sulpicio Vincoy of the Catholic Church’s Camanjac Parish in Camanjac, a barangay adjacent to Candauay, and who is among those heading the opposition, had previously said the report of the Mines and GeoSciences Bureau in Region 7 showed that the proposed site was inappropriate for a sanitary landfill.
Revac admitted that it is, indeed, a common dilemma among LGUs to find a suitable site for a sanitary landfill but if the so-called “three R’s” of waste management is implemented, this will bring down and partially solve the problem of garbage disposal in the different local governments.
The “three R’s” concept is to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle to reduce negative effects of waste in the environment, he said.
The barangays play an important role in this approach, as they are mandated to implement waste segregation at source, as well as establish as Materials Recovery Facility, so that only the residual waste shall be collected, transported and delivered to the dumpsite, he added. (PNA)
