SABLAN, Benguet – The proposed put up of a multi-billion waste to energy project using purported advanced technology in the municipality needs to undergo massive consultation with the people to ensure that it is socially acceptable, the mayor said here over the weekend.
Mayor Alfredo Dacomos, Jr. belied earlier reports that the proponent of the waste to energy project is simply awaiting the issuance of the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) of the facility which is rather unlikely because it still needs to undergo the requisite consultations and the free and prior informed consent (FPIC) of the indigenous peoples since the affected area by the project is within the ancestral domain of the Ibalois.
“We do not understand why there are already pronouncements that the waste to energy project will soon be implemented when there were no consultations that had been conducted and that the indigenous peoples did not yet issue the required free and prior informed consent. It is now unfortunate that the people no longer trust us in relation to the proposed project because of such premature declarations,” Mayor Dacomos stressed.
He claimed that what was endorsed by the municipal government was for Metro Global Renewables Corporation (MGRC) to conduct a feasibility study for the put up of the waste to energy facility in the municipality and that the endorsement did not include the provision for the company to proceed with the project as there are still numerous processes that should be accomplished, particularly the consultations with the affected indigenous peoples.
“We had been criticized by our constituents locally and overseas upon learning that there were earlier pronouncements that we allegedly endorsed the put up of the proposed waste to energy facility in the municipality. We are having a hard time explaining to them that there is no official endorsement coming from the indigenous peoples and the local government,” he added.
Dacumos pointed out that the proposed waste to energy project will have to pass through various stages and processes enshrined under existing laws, rules and regulations, especially that it is an environmentally critical project, that is why it is not true that this has been railroaded and is about to be implemented.
He called on concerned sectors to be desist from issuing statements about the project to avoid unnecessary speculations that puts everyone in a bad light considering that the proposed waste to energy project is a controversial one due to the numerous processes involved prior to its implementation.
According to him, even some members of the municipal council have brought to his attention the serious negative impression of their constituents on them after some company officers and elected officials of Baguio City issued premature pronouncements that the waste to energy project will be implemented in the municipality.
Earlier, concerned sectors in the municipality raised concern on some unsolicited statements from certain company officers and a number of city officials that the proposed waste to energy project will push through in one of the town’s barangays.
The sources, who requested anonymity for security and personal reasons, suspected that if these statements were true, then municipal officials might have been in cahoots with the proponent to implement the project despite the snowballing opposition to its construction.
Further, other sources also believe that the project proponent might be allegedly using the earlier endorsement for them to conduct the feasibility study issued by the municipal government to raise funds to bankroll the project, thus, Sablan officials should be circumspect in issuing endorsements for controversial endeavors like this waste to energy plant.
Moreover, the source also questioned the contents of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed by mayors of the Baguio, La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba, Tublay committing the supposed feedstock for the facility in terms of the volume of garbage from their respective areas of jurisdiction which were never renewed when some new municipal mayors assumed office after the 2022 elections.
Some environmentalists earlier claimed that whatever technology used in the waste to energy project is still considered incineration because it will burn the garbage that will emit smoke into the air which is detrimental to the environment and compromise the health of the people within the neighboring communities.
At present, almost all local governments in Baguio and Benguet are hauling out their respective residual waste to the engineered sanitary landfill in Caps, Tarlac which is the nearest garbage disposal facility accredited by the environment department.
Under the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, local governments are mandated to close their respective open dumpsites and establish their respective controlled dump facilities or engineered sanitary landfills for the protection of the health of the people and the environment. By HENT
