MMDA can use Rizal dump for 6 more months
By Beverly T. Natividad
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:19:00 07/05/2008
MANILA, Philippines – The provincial board of Rizal gave the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) the green light to dump trash again at the sanitary landfill in Rodriguez town.
Rizal Governor Casimiro Ynares III told the Inquirer Friday that the provincial board approved the MMDA’s request for a six-month permit to use the 19-hectare Rizal Provincial Sanitary Landfill.
The provincial board, Ynares said, approved the request on Thursday afternoon but the actual resolution still had to be signed.
Ynares said they were hoping the MMDA would be able to find alternative dumps before the temporary permit expired.
This is the second six-month permit given by Rizal to MMDA.
The Rodriguez landfill, which is operated by the privately-owned SWIMS International, was originally intended as a dump only for trash from Rizal residents.
It was earlier opened to the MMDA for six months – from Nov. 6, 2007 to May 6 – to avert a “looming garbage crisis.”
On May 6, Ynares gave a provisional 45-day permit on MMDA’s request.
MMDA garbage haulers were barred entry at the landfill when the 45-day permit expired on June 22. The MMDA and some Metro Manila mayors were able to negotiate a 15-day extension on June 27.
Of the 8,000 metric tons (MT) of trash produced by Metro Manila residents everyday, 3,000-4,000 MT are brought to the Rodriguez landfill. The rest is brought to other landfills in Navotas City and Pier 18 in Manila and to the provinces of Bulacan and Laguna.
Meanwhile, environmental advocates slammed Rodriguez Mayor Pedro Cuerpo’s “waste-to-energy” scheme. Cuerpo wanted the MMDA to bring garbage to the open dump to fuel his town’s P1.5 billion methane-capture power generation plant.
Bangon Kalikasan Movement president Joey Papa told the Inquirer Friday that Cuerpo’s proposal was a blatant violation of the law because it encouraged local governments to produce more waste to fuel a methane plant.
“His waste-to-energy scheme is horrible and dangerous. How will you encourage LGUs to manage their waste ecologically if you justify the generation of waste for the creation of energy?” said Papa.
Citing contractual obligations to the Montalban Methane Power Corporation (MMPC), Cuerpo, in a press conference Wednesday, even offered a 40 percent discount to the MMDA as an incentive.
Papa said encouraging more waste, even if for energy generation, was contrary to the policy under Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act that aimed to teach city residents to manage their wastes through segregation and recycling.
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