TUBA, Benguet – The municipal government announced that it was able to find a long-term solution to its solid waste disposal problem after it was able to negotiate a hauling contract with the operator of the engineered sanitary landfill based in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan.
Mayor Ignacio Rivera said that based on the agreement between the local government and the Urdaneta sanitary landfill operator, trucks of the landfill operator will haul out the town’s accumulated garbage in Tadiangan, after which, the accumulated garbage will haul out the similarly situated garbage in Camp 3 to help in addressing its garbage disposal problem.
“We are elated that we were able to find a long-term solution to our garbage disposal problem because it will allow us to look for a permanent solution to the said problem, especially the establishment of the town’s sanitary landfill or whatever environmentally acceptable technology to address such priority concern,” Mayor Rivera stressed.
Aside from the town’s accumulated garbage in barangays Tadiangan and Camp 3, the local chief executive claimed the hauler will also haul out the town’s generated waste so that it will not pile up in its temporary waste disposal area along Marcos highway and create more problems than solutions to the municipality in the future.
According to him, coming out with a permanent solution to the garbage disposal problem of a certain locality, whether urban or rural, involves the crafting of lasting and acceptable programs that will involve the participation of residents that is why everything is being taken in strides to make sure that whatever projects that will be put in place will not be jeopardized once all the necessary things will be in place.
Rivera expressed his gratitude to the operator of the Urdaneta sanitary landfill for offering the services of the available garbage trucks to haul out the town’s garbage because it will relive the local government from entering into an agreement with a local hauler that will again affect the hauling of its generated water to the available waste disposal facility.
Under the provision of Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, all local governments are mandated to close the operation of their open dump facilities and subsequently replace the same with environmentally acceptable disposal facilities such as sanitary landfills and controlled dump facilities.
He revealed that the local government is looking into available areas in the different parts of the municipality which could be developed as sanitary landfill sites or host the existence of environmentally acceptable waste disposal facilities to effectively and efficiently address the town’s solid waste management concerns but there is still a serious problem on the social acceptability of the project considering that people are allergic when it comes to issues on garbage disposal.
Rivera claimed what is important is that the local government was able to immediately address one of the most important concerns of the town which is solid waste disposal but it will not stop local officials from finding permanent and acceptable solutions to the town’s garbage disposal problem because hauling is not the identified permanent solution to the concern as it will surely involve the utilization of a huge chunk of the local government’s budget which is supposed to be used for development projects in the thirteen barangays.
By HENT
