LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The municipal council is studying the best option to adopt on how to deal with the proposed relocation of the chicken dung trade.
Vice Mayor Roderick Awingan disclosed that all matters pertaining to the chicken dung trade were already referred to the committee on laws which is expected to render a report anytime on the best option to be taken by the municipal government to address this complicated situation.
He admitted that aside from the letter of the Shilan Chicken Dung Truckers and Traders Association seeking reconsideration of the decision of the local government to remove the chicken dung trade in the municipality for its members to maintain their storages of the dung, the council is also received a petition from residents opposing the continued stay of the chicken dung trade in barangay Shilan and another communication from the barangay in favor of the stay of the chicken dung trade.
Earlier, the council deferred its action on a proposal to give the chicken dung traders some 15 days to relocate outside the municipality to prevent the nuisance that the dung creates among residents and motorists passing through the area where the dung is being sold by the traders.
The vice mayor claimed the council will try its best to decide on the controversial matter for the greater interest of the majority of the residents of the municipality, especially those who are affected by the inconvenience caused by the chicken dung.
According to him, the council will deliberate on the matter in their next regular session with the hope the body will have a collective decision on the chicken dung trade which had been the subject of numerous complaints from the directly affected residents living near the area where the business is being done.
The municipal government earlier scheduled on September 30, 2022 the deadline for the chicken dung traders to relocate outside the municipality but this was reconsidered following the request of the association to defer the implementation of the decision and instead allow the storage in the area considering that there are measures that will be undertaken to mitigate the obnoxious odor emanating from the dung.
However, affected residents reiterated their previous petition addressed to the local government vehemently objecting to the continuation of the chicken dung trade and even the storage of the dung in their barangay since this is a nuisance to them that had been affecting their health and the state of the environment in the area because of the foul odor of the dung and the increase in the population of flies that usually carry with them diseases.
The Court of Appeals (CA) had declared the chicken dung trade as a nuisance in the municipality which served as one of the legal basis of the local government in firming up its decision to order the relocation of the chicken dung trade outside the municipality since it poses a serious threat to the health and safety of the people as well as the state of the environment..
The chicken dung is being used by vegetable farmers as organic fertilizer for their agricultural crops because it is affordable compared to the commercial fertilizers.