MMDA: Metro dumps now closed

Except for the Payatas facility in Quezon City and another located in Navotas, all open dumps operating in Metro Manila were deemed closed yesterday.

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando made the announcement in compliance with Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

Under the law, all open dumps are to be closed yesterday to pave the way for the takeover of sanitary landfills.  

However, Fernando said the Payatas and Navotas dumps will remain open since both have yet to reach its desired elevation and slope.

"We want to prevent ponding or flooding at the sites that could result to producing more methane gas and leachate, which in turn could be dangerous to the health of the people living near these dumps," he explained.

The Payatas and Navotas dumps will only accept "inert and residual" garbage or those considered as non-biodegradable.  

"The biodegradables should be diverted to materials recovery facilities, or MRFs, in every barangay as required by law," Fernando said.

The Payatas dump, a controlled facility, which is actually being utilized for power generation is expected to continue to operate up to December next year.

The rest of Metro Manila’s garbage will now be brought to the sanitary landfills of Rodriguez in Rizal and Clark in Pampanga.

Fernando said the National Solid Waste Management Board (NSWMB), under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, has expressed its intention to extend the lifespan of the two controlled facilities in Metro Manila.

The NSWMB is the government agency tasked to approve the closure programs submitted by operators of the controlled garbage facilities in the country.

Out of the 1,600 cities and municipalities in the country, only 163 have submitted their respective closure plans to the agency.

The NSWMB has yet to receive any closure plan from any Metro Manila city or municipality, prompting Fernando to call on local chief executives to have their respective solid waste managers to come up with 10-year garbage disposal plans.