THIS PAPER reported yesterday that 29 municipalities in Iloilo province will be dumping their solid waste at the 12-hectare sanitary landfill of Passi City when the facility is finally operational. They do not have their own sanitary landfills.
This is very lamentable. Eighteen years since the Solid Waste Management Act was approved, the compliance rate of local government units (LGUs) is still very low. But hopefully, more local governments will properly implement the law, what with concerned government agencies looking into this matter so that legal actions could be undertaken.
Under this law, also known as Republic Act 9003, all open and controlled dumpsites should now be closed and instead, sanitary landfills should have been established.
Furthermore, all local governments should have a solid waste management plan, which should be submitted to and approved by the National Solid Waste Management Commission.
More importantly, the law dictates that there should be mandatory segregation of waste at source and a “no segregation, no collection” policy. All barangays should have a “materials recovery facility” where waste materials are sorted for composting and recycling and the residual waste will be brought to sanitary landfills.
LGUs must follow the law. We hope our local leaders have the political will to do so for the sake of our environment.
The fact that there are compliant local governments only means that it is doable. There is no reason, therefore, why other LGUs could not follow suit.
