'Illegal' dumpsite
in Marikina City
Oct. 29, 2002
By Nelson F. Flores
Inquirer News Service
METRO
Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando, who's
on top of garbage collection in the metropolis, has a stash
of trash in his own backyard.
The former
mayor of Marikina has apparently failed to clean his own city,
which has an illegal dumpsite that has been operating
for several years now, according to Albert Magalang,
National Solid Waste Commission executive director.
Magalang
said the commission in 1995 had issued a closure order
against the dumpsite but this has not been enforced.
Fernando's
wife, Marides Fernando, is now mayor of Marikina.
Magalang said that if she continues to refuse to enforce
the closure order, the commission would be forced
to file administrative, criminal and graft charges against
her.
He said
that the recent NSWC inspection of the area had shown that
the dump, located in a former swampland in Doña
Petra Subdivision, Barangay Concepcion Uno, has
been operating on and off since 2000, when the San Mateo sanitary
landfill was closed.
Magalang
said the city government would temporarily stop the operation
of the dumpsite whenever local residents would file a complaint
with the Laguna Lake Development Authority of the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources. But after a few months,
the dumpsite would resume operation, he added.
"That
is why we welcome the participation of local residents in
monitoring the condition of the dumpsite," Magalang said.
Records
showed that Bayani Fernando opened the dumpsite in 1994.
The following year, the DENR and the LLDA issued a cease and
desist order against the dumpsite, describing it as a direct
menace to public health and safety, the records showed.
The DENR,
LLDA and the NSWC had received reports that after the dumpsite
was opened, there was an increase in respiratory tract-related
illness among residents of Doña Petra Subdivision and
adjoining areas.
The
dumpsite is said to emit noxious fumes and odors, which become
almost unbearable at noon. The stench and the rash
of illness prompted local residents to file complaints with
the city government, but then Mayor Bayani Fernando allegedly
ignored the complaints, Magalang said.
"There
is a scarcity of Fernando admirers in our community,"
said engineer Ed Parra, former president of the Twinville
Homeowners Association. Twinville is near the dumpsite.
Anita
Paway, Samahang Kapatiran ng Doña Petra president,
said the Fernandos labeled their complaint as politically
motivated.
As of
last week, the pile of waste in the dumpsite was already
about 10 meters high, said Magalang.
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