Baguio dumpsite closure okayed

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY — The National Solid Waste Commission has allowed the city government here to close the controversial 7.4-hectare Irisan open dumpsite to pave the way for the establishment of the engineered sanitary landfill in its chosen area within or outside this mountain resort city.

Part of the closure plan of the city’s open dumpsite is the utilization of the facility as transfer station wherein solid wastes collected from the 128 barangays (villages) will be temporarily dumped in the area before the same are hauled out to a controlled dump facility or engineered sanitary landfill outside the city like in Capas, Tarlac.

The local government is using the Irisan open dumpsite as a temporary transfer station despite the vehement opposition of residents living near the facility since it is allegedly posing a serious threat to their health and the state of the environment.

At present, the city government here is implementing a multi-million-peso closure plan to convert the area into a controlled dumpsite facility while evaluating its options where to construct its long overdue engineered sanitary landfill.

Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act prohibits the operation of open dumpsites in the whole country and authorizes local governments to convert the same into controlled dump facilities or establish their own sanitary landfills.

NSWC officials have already informed the city government here that it is on the right track regarding its closure plans for the Irisan open dumpsite.

However, the NWSC tasked the Cordillera Administrative Region office of the Environmental Management Bureau to closely monitor the implementation of the city’s closure plan on the facility to ensure that the rehabilitation plans are in accordance to the guidelines prescribed in the solid waste management law.

Subsequently, the environment department acknowledged the city government is seriously complying with the provisions of the law regarding the closure of open dumpsites compared to other local government units in the rest of the country.

But the NSWC mandated the city to come out with its plans on how to establish its own engineered sanitary landfill after the Irisan dumpsite will have been closed permanently and converted into an ecological park to serve as an added tourist attraction so that the piling up of garbage in almost all parts of the city will be prevented.

The city has not yet found a permanent site where to construct its engineered sanitary landfill since all host communities surrounding the proposed sites even outside Baguio have passed separate resolutions strongly opposing the planned construction of the dump facility in their place due to the lack of sincerity of local officials to negotiate with community elders regarding their concerns relative to the effects of the landfill to the health of the people, the sources of their livelihood and the state of the environment in the said places.