Compel other offices to help: CCENRO seeks council aid on MRF

The Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CCENRO) has sought the assistance of the Cebu City Council in finding the most suitable area for the creation of a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) by requiring the assistance of other City Hall offices.

CCENRO identified the offices as the Land Management Office, Office of the City Assessors, City Council committee on environment, and the City Council committee on environment to help it conduct a “thorough site validation and site identification of suitable government-owned areas for the construction of MRF facilities.”

This was indicated in its response to the findings of the Commission on Audit (COA) regarding an unutilized P55 million budget for an MRF.

This was contained in a Nov. 12 letter, signed by its Engr. Editha Peros, CCENRO head, which was in response to the council’s Oct. 23 request for CCENRO to submit an action plan.

This came after COA flagged the non-utilization of a P55-million grant from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for the enhancement of the MRFs.

In its letter, CCENRO said there is “an urgency to utilize the funds according to their intended purpose in order to expand the city’s waste diversion capabilities.”

It added that the use of the funds would ease the burden on landfill operators, who depend on the tipping fee.

Among other reasons, CCENRO said that though the grant was given in 2018 yet, Cebu City is still “in the process of identifying the most suitable area to build the MRF”.

CCENRO said it sent formal letters of communication on Oct. 3, 2023 to barangays San Jose, Basak San Nicolas, Sudlon I, Babag, and Guba for help in identifying suitable area to build the proposed MRF.

Under Republic Act 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000), the MRF should be established on a “barangay-owned or -leased land or any suitable open space to be determined by the barangay through its council”.

CCENRO said that based on that, it should be the barangays that should provide the site for the construction of the MRF.

“Unfortunately, no barangays have complied with the request,” it said.

CCENRO further said that on Nov. 8, 2023, it requested the City Assessor's Office to conduct a site validation on the list of lots owned by the city to evaluate their compatibility for the creation of the MRF.

“Yet the office (CCENRO) still awaits the response from the City Assessor's Office,” it alleged.

CCENRO managed to establish a temporary MRF in Barangay Kalunasan but there is a pending matter on the land’s ownership.

CCENRO said it conducted validation of potential sites in barangays Basak Pardo, Basak San Nicolas, Luz, and Talamban last May 7 but could not fine the appropriate area that is without any issues or concerns.

"Furthermore, this office faced limitations due to budget constraints, affecting the daily operations of the office particularly in solid waste management," stated its report

In particular, it said that based on the City Government’s Annual Investment Plan for 2024, P2.5 million would be set aside for project-based personnel for CCENRO’s “solid waste diversion programs and initiatives”, but what got approved was just P200,000.

In the same response, CCENRO also submitted a copy of the latest Action Plan, which they also submitted to the COA, detailing their actions to be taken in order to address the audit observations regarding waste management and MRFs. (CEBU NEWS)