LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Mayor Romeo K. Salda assured residents that the decision of the municipal council to put a total stop on the chicken dung trade in a number of barangays will be implemented as soon as the pertinent documents will be submitted to his office.
He claimed that the local government had been receiving numerous petitions from residents and motorists on the alleged inconvenience caused by the presence of the chicken dung trade within their communities, that is why it is high time that they will make a firm decision on whether or not to put a stop on the chicken dung trade.
“The municipal council already made a firm ruling to stop the chicken dung trade that is why we will surely implement the said decision once we will be provided copies of the pertinent documents appropriate to the said issue. We had been bombarded with petitions left and right either in favor or against the chicken dung trade over the past several months, that is why we saw to it that appropriate action will be done the soonest,” Salda stressed.
Earlier, the municipal council unanimously agreed to stop the conduct of the chicken dung trade in the municipality following the declaration by the Court of Appeals (CA) that the said business is a nuisance that poses a serious threat to the health and safety of the people and the environment aside from the numerous petitions from the residents opposing the continuous conduct of the trade in their respective places.
The council suggested that the affected chicken dung traders should start looking for their relocation sites outside the municipality for them to be able to sustain the conduct of their lucrative trade that will be beneficial to the farmers patronizing the chicken dung as fertilizer for their agricultural produce.
Salda pointed out that the local government understands the predicament of the chicken dung traders for them to be able to continue their business in the municipality but the local government has put emphasis on the welfare of the greater majority of the populace when it decided to already stop the conduct of the controversial business activity.
Residents and motorists argued that the chicken dung trade has caused incontinence to them over the past several decades because of the foul odor emanating from the dung itself aside from the fact that it is the breeding site of flies that cause the spread of food borne illnesses in their communities.
On the other hand, the chicken dung traders claimed that they were able to institute the appropriate measures to significantly reduce the foul odor emanating from the dung and have sealed their storage areas to prevent the same from being the breeding ground of flies that spread food borne illnesses in their areas of operation.
For several decades now, vegetable farmers from the different parts of Benguet, Mountain province and Ifugao have been using chicken dung produced in the lowlands as fertilizer for their agricultural crops because it is considered to be organic, cheap and affordable compared to other commercial fertilizers sold in the market.
Salda expressed hope that the chicken dung traders will understand the decision of the local government because what had been considered is the general welfare of the people over the interest of other sectors.