BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – This province, considered as Cagayan Valley’s watershed, has been the recipient of a financial aid being provided by the Japan government for watershed protection efforts here.
The P2.6-million grant, issued recently by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs through a tie-up between a Japanese non-government organization and its Philippine counterpart, would be utilized in support of the province’s forest protection and conservation project dubbed “Promotion of Participatory Forest Management in the Critical Areas of Nueva Vizcaya.”
The Japanese-based NGO, Global Link Management Institute and its local counterpart, the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement have been spearheading the implementation of the project in partnership with the participating local government units and other stakeholders here.
GLMI’s Makiko Watanabe said that the project, covering 32 hectares of watershed and forest areas here, is also being implemented in coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Education. The areas covered by the project, formed part of the province’s remaining forests, are in the upland towns of Kasibu, Kayapa, Santa Fe and Dupax Del Sur, where soil erosion is reported to be alarming.
This, Watanabe said, may be replicated in other parts of the province’s watershed areas, depending on their success. What is important during the initial stages, she said, would be to further enhance the capacity of the stakeholders, especially the communities, in fostering a comprehensive and responsible approach to forest land use.
For the project to succeed, Merlinda Calubaquib, PRRM area manager and joint project leader, said that there is a need to achieve sustainable forest management through secure land tenure, fair application of environmental laws and devolution and training of the functions of protecting the environment to the barangay level.
Task force to decide landfill site selection
BAGUIO CITY – A task force to study the offers and decide on the final site of the planned engineered sanitary landfill for the city will be formed by the city mayor soon. City administrator Peter Fianza whom Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. tasked to oversee the garbage management concerns announced that the city executive will create the body which he said is expected to first and foremost decide on setting a timetable for the selection process starting with imposing the cut-off date for receiving offers for possible sites.
He said the task force will assess and investigate all the offered sites, implement a selection process based on the guidelines and point systems established by the Solid Waste Management Board and select the most appropriate site. The result of the selection will be submitted to the city council for confirmation.
Fianza said the city has received 20 additional offers for possible landfill sites.
He said they expect the whole process of selection and approval on the sides of both parties to take not less than a year. The establishment of the sanitary landfill has been identified as a long-term solution to the city’s waste management problem.
While it is being worked out, the city is also implementing remedial measures like the purchase of equipment like smelting machines and pulverizers, establishment of materials recovery facilities in the barangays and improvement of the existing composting plant at the Irisan dumpsite. To complement this, the city continues to promote the 3Rs (Reuse, Reduce, Recycle) among households. Acting Mayor Daniel Farinas said the collection of wastes continues as scheduled every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the hauling still being conducted by Metro Waste and local contractors.
Farinas said the city mayor acted in good faith in tapping the services of Metro Waste without undergoing the process of entering into a contract and other procedures required by the law because it was done in response to the exigency of the situation at that time.
Reacting to some councilors’ criticism of Metro Waste’s enlistment, Farinas said city officials must concentrate on the need to find solution to the problem instead of finding fault. He expressed confidence that remedies can still be made for the city to compensate Metro Waste for its services despite problems in the approval of the budget for said purpose.
He said that for as long as the service rendered was for the benefit of the people, legal remedies can always be resorted to by the city to justify payment to the service provider. Efforts to initially pay Metro Waste faced a snag after the ordinance allocating P10 million for the payment of its services for the first part of July was returned unsigned by the city mayor due to procedural lapse. Another request for the payment of obligation to Metro Waste for the last part of July was denied by the body. The body on motion of Councilor Richard Carino also called for an investigation of the Metro Waste deal after allegedly receiving information that the tipping fee being charged was doubled.
The body however approved the allocation of another P10 million for the continuation of hauling services for the month of August. In other moves, the body also approved the allotment of P15 million for the development of the city government property in Irisan as temporary garbage residual containment area and another P7.4 million for the acquisition or lease of a lot for a permanent residual site. – Aileen P. Refuerzo
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