Is it an open dumpsite or a controlled dumpsite?
Following an inspection in Barangay Concepcion
Uno two months ago, a team of the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources-National Solid Waste Management Commission
(DENR-NSWMC) found the operation of the site to be illegal,
saying it violates the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act
of 2000.
However, Marikina Mayor Ma. Lourdes Fernando
said yesterday that the operation of the dumpsite is legal
and part of the local government’s program to achieve
an "organized and healthy city."
She stressed the site in question was "a
controlled dumpsite."
Still, NSWMC executive director Albert
Magalang had advised the city mayor to cease from further
dumping activities, and to implement the immediate rehabilitation
of the Doña Petra dumpsite following complaints from
residents living around the area.
Based on her letter to Fernando dated Oct.
21, Magalang said the area "is not suitable for
garbage disposal."
The dumpsite is located near a residential
and commercial area and is adjacent to the Marikina River.
"Currently, piles of waste have reached
an approximate height of 10 meters. For this
reason, the dumpsite endangers the health of the nearby residents
and water bodies," the letter stated.
In an interview, residents told The Star that
many children fall sick due to the strong stench of
garbage, especially during the rainy season.
According to them, the dumpsite has been operating
for four years now, but it is only this year that a hill of
garbage has started to form.
Mike Saro, block chairman said that they have
been staging protests for the dismantling of the dumpsite.
Fernando said the Waste Management Office
of Marikina regularly "treats"
the garbage to avoid the emission of foul smell. She said
they have not received any reports of children getting sick
due to the operation of the dumpsite. (mayor,
please check your records. go to the Tumana Health Center)
The mayor pointed out that the local
government is spending millions for the purchase of chemicals
being sprayed on the garbage.
She explained that the garbage being dumped
in the area is the 60 percent "unrecyclable portion"
of the entire garbage brought to the Materials Recovery Facility
in Marikina located on the other side of the dumpsite.
The garbage pile is being used to fill up
a deep part of the community to elevate the area to be eventually
used as a settlement site for possible relocation of squatters
in the city.
Fernando said that the operation of the dumpsite
has appropriate permits from the DENR.
"Originally, the area was a gravel
pit, talagang malalim at bahain. (correction
mayor, that area was originally a swamp area not at gravel
pit.) So we thought of leveling the area para
hindi na lumubog ulit and to avoid the mass evacuations during
typhoons," she told The Star.
"We can put the garbage in Montalban,
but we want to keep it within our area because ayaw
naman naming mamerwisyo, (pero
kami ang napeperwisyo, sarili mong kababayan) "
she added.
Fernando said opposition to the operation
of the dumpsite was part of a ploy hatched by political rivals.
(this city government is so paranoid,
every legitimate grievance not attuned to their project is
brushed aside and labels it politically motivated, counter
productive, etc..)
However, Magalang argued: "We
inspected the area and found out that some areas of the disposal
site is being illegally operated because it is open dumping
and not controlled," she said. "Also, relocation
above a dumpsite is not allowed simply because it is not safe."
The DENR said it is still awaiting the response
of the Marikina government to the October letter.
