Department of Environment of Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza gave local chief executives an ultimatum of six months to close down all open dump sites within their areas of jurisdiction or suffer the consequences of the law.
Atienza, in a press release posted at the DENR website said the local government units were already given sufficient time to comply with Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.
The law calls for the closure of all open dumpsites within three years after the effectivity of the law which was way back in the year 2000.
“Yet until now there are still 826 open dumpsites all over the country,” Atienza said.
He said the six months is the grace period for LGUs to comply with the law but in two months time regional officials will start checking their compliance.
Here in Central Visayas, Environmental Management Bureau director Allan Aranguez said there were already 10 LGUs whose officials were recommended for filing of charges for failure to close down open dumpsites despite leeway in implementation and technical assistance.
Here in the region, Aranguez said, he could only cite Cebu City, Bais City in Oriental Negros and the town of Asturias to have followed the order.
But even Cebu City still lacks certain technicalities.
There are certain municipalities with partial compliances and closure plans that EMB is receiving while some municipalities have already received authority to close dumpsites leading to construction of landfills.
There are also LGUs with still no identified dumpsites.
“About 10 endorsements/recommendations na pasakaan og kaso ang gi-pass sa Manila, but Manila has not yet responded that’s why wala pay gikasuhan,” Aranguez said.
Section 1, Rule 13 of RA 9003 provides that within three years from the effectivity of the law, all open dumpsites shall be converted to controlled dumpsites. Controlled dumpsites, on the other hand, are to be operated only within five years, and beyond said period these facilities shall be deemed closed and phased out.
DENR records show that there are 359 controlled dumpsites nationwide, including four in Metro Manila.
“We have to fast track the conversion of all our dumpsites not only to protect the health of our people, but also in the face of global warming and climate change,” Atienza said.
Open dumps are very unsanitary because they attract all kinds of parasites that, in turn, afflict people with different kinds of illnesses.
Aside from that the garbage that accumulate in the dumpsites produce leachate that contaminate the groundwater.
The methane gas emitted by decaying organic matter in the dumpsites has greater global warming potential by about 21 times as compared to carbon dioxide.
Atienza assured the LGUs that the DENR through its regional officials shall be on hand to extend technical assistance not only to hasten the closure and rehabilitation of their dumpsites but also to establish their materials recovery facilities as well as find potential sites for sanitary landfills.
At the same time, Atienza asked the local executives to continuously encourage their constituents to practice garbage recycling. — Ferliza C. Contratista and Jessica Ann Pareja, UP intern/BRP