• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Victorias City government is requesting for the temporary disposal of its garbage at the sanitary landfill in Barangay Felisa, Bacolod City, pending the establishment of its own facility.
In the proposed memorandum of agreement under review by the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Bacolod, the disposal of properly segregated residual wastes shall be subject to existing environmental laws, rules, regulations, and operational policies of the sanitary landfill facility (SLF).
The request for the temporary use of the SLF is “in the spirit of inter-local cooperation and in furtherance of proper solid waste management, subject to terms and conditions,” the proposed MOA states.
Victorias presently has no established SLF of its own and is requesting temporary accommodation from Bacolod for the disposal of its residual wastes, it added. “Nothing in this agreement shall be construed as creating a permanent indefinite right on the part of (Victorias) to utilize the sanitary landfill facilities of (Bacolod).”
Atty. Vanessa Encabo of the Bacolod City Legal Office, in a legal opinion (LO) furnished the SP, said that cooperative undertakings, such as allowing the city government of Victorias to dispose of its residual wastes in the city’s sanitary landfill facilities, are allowed under the Local Government Code, specifically Section 33.
Section 44 of Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, also allows local government units to consolidate or coordinate their efforts in addressing common solid waste management concerns, including the establishment and utilization of common waste disposal facilities, the LO, approved by CLO head, Atty. Karol Joseph Chiu, added.
But acceptance of residual wastes from another LGU will affect the operational lifespan, environmental capacity, maintenance requirements, and overall sustainability of Bacolod’s SNL, Encabo said, adding that the facility is being operated and maintained by private contractor ISWIMS (International Solid Waste Integrated Management Specialist Inc.).
Since the acceptance of wastes originating from another LGU may have implications upon Bacolod’s contractual obligations, landfill capacity allocations, operational costs, and related environmental compliance responsibilities, the existing contract with ISWIMS should first be carefully reviewed, the CLO stressed.
It also recommended that the arrangement should be temporary in nature; a cap or limitation imposed on the quantity of residual wastes to be accepted; require strict compliance with waste segregation and environmental regulations; and reserve, in favor of the Bacolod LGU, the right to suspend or terminate acceptance of wastes whenever landfill capacity, operational conditions, contractual obligations, or environmental considerations so require, among others. | CGC
