Talisay OKs waste, landfill resolutions

The Talisay City council yesterday approved two resolutions aimed at protecting the public and the environment from the hazards posed by the improper way of disposing wastes.

The two approved resolutions, authored by Councilor Bernard Joseph Odilao, were the 10-year Ecological Solid Waste Management Plan and the establishment of the Talisay sanitary landfill in barangay Tapul. Odilao, however, did not make it to the council session yesterday for health reasons so Councilor Rodi Cabigas introduced the measures on his behalf.

Cabigas, a member of the committee on environmental protection and natural resources, said the 10-year plan had gone through a participative process wherein substantive views and ideas were fine-tuned for the accomplishment of the targets of the plan up to year 2014.

The plan includes the setting up of a comprehensive waste management system, installation of efficient technologies, gathering greater participation of the waste generators through incentives and rewards, massive education campaign and establishment of a collaborative structure among key helpers starting from the households to the city government.

RA 9003 requires a 10-year solid waste management plan to be drawn up by local government units. The plan must include components on waste reduction; recycling; collection; information, education and communication; and disposal. It also requires the LGU to reduce its non-recyclable waste by 25 percent within five years from its enactment.

Section 32 of the law also mandates the setting up of a Material Recovery Facility in every barangay which will receive, sort, process, and store materials that can be composted and recycled for proper disposal or sale to junk shop owners.

Barangay Tapul was identified as the alternative site for the establishment of a sanitary landfill after the Bureau of Mines and Geo-sciences of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources noted unfavorable conditions surrounding the six-hectare landfill in barangay Biasong.

The city is speeding up the establishment of the sanitary landfill to meet the 2007 deadline set by Republic Act 9003. - Garry B. Lao