MORE NEWS, NUEVA ECIJA

DENR orders Nueva Ecija mayor to close dumpsite
BY LIAM ANACLETO

GAPAN CITY – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Environmental Management Bureau has issued a cease-and-desist order to the city government to shut down its controlled dumpsite or face lawsuit for non-compliance.

Regidor de Leon, DENR-Central Luzon executive director, ordered Mayor Ernesto Natividad to shut down the 11-hectare dump in Barangay Makabaklay or face charges for violations of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

De Leon also ordered Natividad to prepare a safe closure and rehabilitation plan for the dump as provided by law.

In a letter to Natividad, De Leon said the continuous operation of a dump, whether open or controlled, clearly violates RA 9003 which mandates that all open and controlled dumps should have been closed and phased out by Feb. 16, 2006 or five years since the law took effect.

He also told Natividad that all local government units or private operators of open or controlled dumps are required to prepare a safe closure and rehabilitation plan and submit this to the EMB for review, evaluation and approval, as mandated by National Solid Waste Management Commission Resolution No. 5 and DENR Administrative Order 9.

“Should the city government fail to comply with this order, this office will be constrained to endorse the city government to the proper authorities for the filing of appropriate charges pursuant to RA 9003 and other applicable law,” De Leon said in his letter.

Sought for comment, Natividad said the closure of the dump in Makabaklay might result in a garbage crisis since the city government is not financially capable of putting up a sanitary landfill as provided by law.

“Granted that we have it closed, what will we do?” he said.

The cease-and-desist order was the second such directive issued by the DENR to the city government; the first was in 2006.

This city, considered the northern gateway to Nueva Ecija from Metro Manila, produces an average of 30 tons of garbage per day.

In 2004, the city government thought of putting up a sanitary landfill but negotiations fell through due to strong public resistance.

Natividad said instead of threatening local governments with lawsuits, the DENR should assist them in preparing closure plans for dumps.

“The question is, what should the implementing agency do to assist us?” he said.

De Leon said the law may be harsh on the city government, but that is the law. “Wala tayong magagawa (We cannot do anything),” he said.