Allow incinerators, Metro mayors ask

Members of the Metro Manila Mayors League are set to stage a protest rally to urge the Senate and Congress to allow incinerators as a solution to the garbage problem.

Pasay City Mayor Wenceslao "Peewee" Trinidad, spokesperson of the Mayors League, said that it was unanimously decided by the mayors in their meeting yesterday in Makati City that incineration is the solution to the garbage crisis.

Although some of the mayors, particularly league President and Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, have openly batted for the use of incinerators, it is only now that the league members have decided to come up with a concrete action plan to express their opinion.

Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay said that the mass action would not be addressed to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority but to the legislative branch because of the Clean Air Act.

Under the Clean Air Act, the use of incinerators, as well as other methods that use burning, is banned.

Binay said that the mayors would ask for an amendment of the law to allow the use of incinerators.

Trinidad added that the purpose is to provide more "drama" to their demand so the public would know the extent of the problem and the solution available to them.

"We want to let the people know that we are not the problem. The problem is there is no site (for garbage disposal)," Trinidad said.

Binay said the mass action might be staged sometime next week.

The Senate has actually taken steps towards amending the Clean Air Act through a bill filed by Senator John Osmeña which cited errors in the law, particularly the banning of incineration.

On the part of the MMDA, Chairman Benjamin Abalos, Sr. has reiterated in the past that he was not interested in the use of incinerators.

Abalos said that the cost of technology is too expensive and that there are too many risks involved.

He pointed out that the standards of incineration should be very high to ensure the safety of the general public.

Incinerators should be operated at very high temperatures to prevent the release of harmful dioxins into the atmosphere. – Marvin Sy