CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The success or failure of another Solid Waste Management Plan of the provincial government initiated under the second term of Gov. Lilia Pineda will depend on the support of the local government units.
Thus, said Jaeson Sambat, head of the Solid Waste Management of the Provincial Government-Environment and Natural Resource Office (PG ENRO) as he noted that for the past three years, the Pineda administration has initiated efforts to address solid waste problems despite these, the initiatives remain futile because of the lack or minimal support coming from the local government units (LGUs) down to the barangay level.
“The provincial government gave garbage trucks to all towns, assisted in the construction of Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), and convened the Provincial Federation of Junkshop Operators but no counter efforts from the LGUs,” Sambat complained.
He said the local officials also reason out the lack of budget for the solid waste management which is unlikely because Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 asked them to allot 5 percent of their budget for this area of concern.
“If they have the budget, it is limited for the collection of waste and transfer to sanitary landfill but not on the solution to address the problem. Meaning their approach is not sustainable.
Sambat disclosed LGUs compliance in the solid waste management is very low. In the province, only the town of Guagua, Porac and Mabalacat City performed well for their operational material recovery facilities and conformed to bailing of biochemical waste that is collected by the partner company- the Holcim that uses plastic in manufacturing cement.
“Now that Gov. Pineda personally appealed for their support and with her political will, we are optimistic that this time, strategies and plans to be presented to them will have an impact because of their cooperation,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Gov. Pineda vowed to help other LGUs in the construction of their MRFs and provision of their bailing machine once they showed full cooperation and interest in the solid waste management plan of the province.
By JENNA LUMBANG
