Town officials in quandary: where to bury dead chickens
POZORRUBIO, Pangasinan— This northeastern Pangasinan town, where shipments of dead chickens were dumped last week, has a bigger problem: No other town wanted the dead animals to be buried in its backyard.
As a result, the owner of the poultry farm, where the dead chickens came from, failed to remove them from this town on Tuesday.
This situation left local officials no other choice but to dispose of the dead animals in the village where these were dumped, said Chief Insp. Ryan Manongdo, town police chief.
“Residents in the village are now suffering because of the stench,” he said.
On Tuesday, Pozorrubio officials were still trying to figure out how to deal with the dead chickens without violating the law. The 40,000 dead chickens were transported to Barangay Nantangalan here on Sunday from Barangay Capulaan in Villasis town, after they died on Thursday when the farm’s ventilation system broke down.
After hours of meeting and consulting with environment officials, Pozorrubio Councilor Joseph Frianeza said the town government agreed to bury the dead chickens in the private lot where these were dumped.
“We asked the owner if he can do it today (Tuesday). When he said he could not, then we said we would have to do it but he would have to pay for the expenses,” Frianeza said.
As recommended by health and environment officials who attended the meeting, the dead chickens will have to be removed from the sacks and transferred to galvanized iron sheets. Then these will be covered with lime to eliminate the odor before burning them.
The charred remains will be thrown into a pit and covered with at least a meter of soil.
Frianeza said Domingo Masajo, Nantangalan village chief, had been asked to hire 20 people to dispose of the dead chickens. “We have to do this and finish this, even if it will take us all night,” Frianeza said.
He said the residents of Barangay Nantangalan and the adjoining villages of Bantugan and Dilan had also been inconvenienced by the odor emitted by the dead animals.
“Some residents had to sleep at the Nantangalan barangay hall [on Monday] night because they could no longer stand the smell. [Others said] they could not eat [due to the stench],” he said.
Aside from the complaint for violation of Republic Act No. 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000), the truck driver, his helpers and the owners of the poultry farm and private lot also face a class suit from residents of the three villages, Frianeza said.
“We have to teach them a lesson so that this will not happen again,” he said.
