BAGUIO CITY – The local government and the Cordillera office of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-CAR) entered into a memorandum of agreement to facilitate the establishment of materials recovery facilities (MRFs) in the identified barangays of the city pursuant to the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
Under the agreement, the EMB-CAR shall provide technical and funding support to the city to establish MRFs within the identified barangays; conduct monitoring of the project to ensure attainment of its objectives; assist in the preparation of the required work and financial plan for the said project and provide trainings for local government recipients on the proper implementation of RA 9003.
On the other hand, the local government shall develop and submit a work and financial plan for the activities that will be conducted that form part of the agreement; provide counterpart resources in kind to assist and augment the implementation of the agreement through the establishment of MRFs; assign and compensate personnel to manage the MRF operations, including data management; provide information education campaign on source reduction of waste, recycling and composting programs to the residents; implement final sorting of recyclables in the MRFs; train solid waste management officers to assist in the enforcement of the project and provide other forms of support needed for the project; maintain the MRFs in accordance with the design and specifications diversion of not less than 50 percent of the total waste volume through composting and recycling; conduct information, education and communication campaign for the effective implementation of the activities agreed upon to be undertaken; apprehend violators and issue citation tickets to households or commercial establishments not segregating waste at source in accordance to its existing ordinance; submit progress and final reports as well as audited financial or liquidation reports and submit reports of checks issued, reports of disbursements of fund utilization, statement of fund utilization certified correct by the accountant, approved by the local chief executive and duly received by the Commission on Audit (COA) of the city to the EMB-CAR within 15 days upon completion and payment of the constructed MRF.
The EMB-CAR and the local government shall jointly monitor and evaluate the activities conducted under the agreement as stated under the submitted work and financial plan to ensure attainment of the established objectives.
The agreement stipulated that the EMB-CAR shall release to the local government the amount of P600,000 for the construction of the MRF in Barangay Gibraltar and that the city shall disburse the fund solely for the purpose of putting up the proposed MRF subject to existing accounting and auditing rules and regulations.
The parties agreed that the activities and programs stipulated in the agreement shall be implemented this year and that by mutual consent, the agreement or part of the same may be modified, repealed, altered, extended, revised, amended or supplemented by the involved parties to ensure that the objectives of the same will be achieved.
By Dexter A. See
