BAGUIO CITY – Presumptive Representative Mauricio G. Domogan wants the land Management Bureau (LMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to facilitate the identification of the potential sites for the establishment of solid waste disposal facilities of local government units in the different parts of the country, they being familiar with the status of lands nationwide.
In an interview over the One for the Road program of Herald Express, Domogan suggested to the DENR-LMB to segregate the lands that are suitable for the establishment of solid waste disposal facilities of local government units as it is in possession of the surveys and status of lands in the different parts of the country.
He pointed out that the agency should not wait for local government units to be the ones to identify the lands for their solid waste disposal facilities to avoid the possibility of potential solid waste disposal sites being converted to other uses that will aggravate the waste disposal problems of various localities in the country.
The former congressman and city chief executive argued that it should be incumbent upon the DENR-LMB to already identify the potential solid waste disposal facility sites considering the rapid in-migration that has led to increased waste disposal but also land occupation which have resulted and can result to more problems for local government units in urban areas in identifying sites for the establishment of feasible garbage disposal facilities aligned with the present mandate of the National Solid Waste Commission (NSWMC).
According to him, if there are no more areas that could be identified for such endeavor, then clustering of adjacent local government units can be done to be serviced by a common site.
Under the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, local government units have been mandated to close the operation of their open dumpsites and replace these with controlled dump facilities or engineered sanitary landfills for the preservation of the environment and the protection of the health of the people.
Domogan stated that the DENR-LMB should start working out the realization of the proposal because numerous lands are now being converted for commercial, industrial and housing purposes aside from the agriculture nature of most lands, to allow local government units to have reserved areas for solid waste management facilities to address the pressing concern for the put up of environmentally-friendly garbage disposal facilities.
He expressed hope that the DENR-LMB will find wisdom on his suggestion to avoid further problems by local government units in the establishment of their respective solid waste disposal facilities, whether engineered sanitary landfill, controlled dump facility, waste to energy facility among others.
Domogan will be serving as Baguio City’s Representative to the House of Representatives during the upcoming 20th Congress after being overwhelmingly elected by the city’s electorate to serve the post in the recently concluded May 12, 2025 mid-term elections. HENT
