BAGUIO CITY – Five municipalities from the different parts of the Cordillera recently received financial assistance from the Cordillera office of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-CAR) for the establishment of their materials recovery facilities (MRFs) to help the local governments to comply with the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.
Reynaldo S. Digamo, EMB-CAR regional director, said the grant of P300,000 each to Natonin, Mountain Province, Tinoc, Asipulo and Lagawe, Ifugao and Luna, Apayao is part of the agency’s commitment to extend assistance to local governments for the establishment of allowable solid waste disposal facilities that are compliant with the law.
“We will closely monitor the construction of the MRFs in the beneficiary municipalities so that their projects will conform to the approved design of the facility. We will also monitor the operation of the facilities once the construction will be completed to make sure that the assistance will be utilized to the fullest,” Digamo stressed.
Under the guidelines for the grant of financial assistance to local governments in the different parts of the region, the beneficiary municipalities should have an available government lot where the facility will be constructed as part of their counterpart to the project.
Digamo claimed the local governments must also make sure that residents adhere to the segregation of waste at source so that those handling the operation of the MRFs will not have a difficult time performing their assigned duties and responsibilities.
According to him, EMB-CAR technical personnel will also assist the local governments in the put up of the MRFs as local governments are not limited to the design approved by the agency and could increase the capacity of the facilities if they have additional available funds.
He called on local officials of cities and municipalities that have not yet satisfactorily complied with the put up of their solid waste disposal facilities to immediately work out measures they can afford to address their present garbage collection and disposal system to qualify them for assistance from the agency to comply with the law or face the consequences of being charged, fined or imprisoned for their inaction on their garbage concerns.
Under the law, local governments must shut down their open dumpsites and establish their controlled dumping facilities or other environmentally acceptable means of waste disposal.
Digamo urged local officials to avail of the agency’s technical expertise in working out working out sustainable solutions to their garbage concerns to prevent complications in the future.
By HENT
