BAGUIO CITY – The local government continues to search for a permanent solution to the city’s garbage disposal problem and the contribution of all sectors is important in crafting the long-term solution to the decade-old problem.
Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan appealed to critics of the city’s temporary transfer station in a portion of the 92-hectare Baguio Dairy Farm to understand the current predicament of the local government and think of the welfare of the people.
“The Dairy Farm transfer station is very temporary because we are still looking for the appropriate permanent solution to the problem. We are not running away from the problem but facing it squarely because it is the interest of the residents that matter in this case,” Domogan stressed.
He disclosed that a ranking official of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) is arriving in the city anytime to inspect if the temporary transfer station poses a serious threat to the animals being taken cared by its personnel way above the said station.
The Cordillera office of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-CAR) is requiring the city to secure a permit from the central office of the Department of Agriculture (DA) for the use of the property as a temporary transfer station of the city’s residual waste being hauled out to the Urdaneta sanitary landfill prior to the issuance of the certificate of non-coverage of the area.
He explained that the use of the DA property as a temporary transfer station is a stop-gap measure as the La Trinidad-based court ordered the hauler to stop using its transfer station in Lamtang, Puguis because of environmental and health issues raised against it.
Earlier, the DA-CAR regional director and the official in charge of the Baguio Dairy Farm endorsed the use of the area near Marcos highway as the local government’s temporary staging area for the city’s residual waste for a maximum period of one year while the city is still searching for the appropriate permanent solution to its garbage disposal woes.
According to him, what is important is that the hauler strictly complies with the no-touch-ground policy imposed by the Cordillera office of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-CAR) and that if there will be residual waste left in the area, it should not stay there for over 24 hours to prevent the production of obnoxious odor emanating from the site that will affect the residents near the area.
He expressed confidence that the local government will find a permanent solution to the city’s garbage disposal problem in less than one year that is why the portion of the dairy farm that is being used as a transfer station will not actually be used for the one year period.
While the city is still searching for the permanent solution to the existing garbage problem, he underscored that hauling of the city’s residual waste is still the best option available to prevent a garbage crisis.
By Dexter A. See
