|
THE
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
disclosed that it has readied two alternative sites in
preparation for the closure of the sanitary landfill in
Rodriguez, Rizal.
Environment Secretary Lito Atienza Jr. said the
department has long prepared the alternative site in
Norzagaray, Bulacan, and another site adjacent to the
Rodriguez landfill.
“We have
already prepared the two sites as early as a month ago,
so there should be no problem if the old landfill shuts
down,” said Atienza.
“It is
now up to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority
[MMDA] to adjust its operational requirements,” he said.
Atienza
said he has already issued the environmental compliance
certificate (ECC) to the two alternative sites.
“The ECC
for the Rizal site was issued two weeks ago, while that
for Norzagaray was issued two months ago,” said Atienza,
noting that there should no longer be any obstacle to
reopening the second landfill in Rizal.
In a
resolution, the town of
Rodriguez
has decided to shut down the current 14-hectare landfill
as well as the nearby 19-hectare site operated by the
Rizal provincial government and a private company.
The
closure of the landfill has resulted to the worsening
problem of uncollected garbage in Metro Manila streets.
Metro
Manila residents produce an estimated 8,000 metric tons
of solid waste every day, and about a quarter of this
volume is dumped at the Rodriguez landfill.
The
Rodriguez municipal council resolution came in the wake
of the 60-day suspension order against Rodriguez Mayor
Pedro Cuerpo issued by Gov. Casimiro Ynares III in
compliance with a Sangguniang Panlalawigan resolution.
The
closure of the sanitary landfill is the outcome of a
fractious and bitter word war and legal and extralegal
maneuverings between the municipality and the Rizal
provincial government which all centered on which entity
had the legal right to regulate and operate landfills in
the town.
The
closure order ended the festering controversy that had
gone on for nearly a year and had reached the courts and
various agencies of government for resolution.
Cuerpo
said he and the members of the municipal council had
decided they had received enough aggravation and
punishment from the Rizal provincial government and the
MMDA.
“The
rule of law had been breached and flouted brazenly by
those who should have been kind and cooperative with
us—the people of Rodriguez, Rizal, who were willing to
serve as Metro Manila’s garbage dump,” Cuerpo said.
It is
ironic, Cuerpo said, because the Metro Manila garbage
crisis was not solved by the Rizal provincial government
nor by the MMDA then.
“It was
President Arroyo who resolved the garbage crisis of
2001. The President personally asked me and the
municipal council to help solve the garbage crisis in
Metro Manila in the early part of her administration.”
He added
that from that time on, the people of Rodriguez had
faithfully accepted the solid waste of Metro Manila as
part of their commitment to the nation and the
President.
For
six-and-a-half years, Cuerpo said Rodriguez had been the
garbage dump of Metro Manila, and had done its part in
making the metropolis cleaner.
“But
what we cannot take anymore are the legal and
extra-legal harassment and machinations against the town
and its leaders, the non-payment of what is legally due
us which runs into hundreds of millions of pesos already
and the environmental degradation that is occurring
everyday as we lack the resources to handle the damage
being wrought by the landfill in the area,” Cuerpo said. |
