by JOEL P. MAPILES
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO --- In a bid to immediately address the gargantuan problem on solid wastes dumped in illegal open and controlled dump sites, Governor Lilia ‘Nanay Baby’ has ordered the members of the Pampanga Mayors’ League (PML) yesterday to present on Tuesday the proposed locations of material recovery facilities (MRFs) to be put up in every municipality on a clustered basis.
The governor explained that the waste problem of the province cannot wait, hence, her administration is bent on putting up pre-cast MRFs in every town for segregation, reduce, recycling, reuse and for composting activities.
With the MRFs, Pineda said, the volume of collected garbage would be lessened.
For the meantime, the governor has also ordered the mayors to put-up six transfer stations for the use of clustered municipalities, wherein the trucks of the provincial government would pick up the collected garbage for dumping at the Metro Clark Sanitary Landfill.
The governor has also asked the mayors to instruct their barangay officials to educate their constituents on the importance of segregation at the household level.
She said that while they are waiting for the installation of pre-cast MRFs in their municipalities, the barangay should work on how to solve the garbage problem through proper segregation and collection.
Pineda said she has also reminded the mayors to create and activate the municipal solid waste management council tasked to formulate policies and strategies on solid waste management in accordance with the Republic Act 9003. otherwise known as Ecological Solid Waste Management Law.
“Let us all work to clean Pampanga from garbage,” the governor told the municipal mayors and 505 barangay captains during during the Solid Waste Management and Disaster Awareness Program held recently at the Benigno S. Aquino Hall, capitol compound here.
The governor said the provincial government is very much willing to augment the budget for solid waste management, should the villages and the municipalities merge their efforts and resources including their own budgets, to put an end to this long time problem on garbage.
Candaba Mayor Jerry Pelayo, concurrent president of the Pampanga Mayors’ League, said the league shares the same vision as that of the governor. He said the mayors are bent on obeying the order of the governor to zero-in on all controlled and open dump sites in the whole province.
Pineda said in allocating enough budget for waste management, the mayors and the barangay captains should appropriate 5 percent from their respective municipalities and barangays’ internal revenue allotments, particularly from their 20% development fund, for the purpose.
Pineda said she is serious in providing funds for the construction of material recovery facilities (MRF) in each of the 505 barangays in the whole province.
The governor has also urged the barangay officials to educate the households in segregating their own wastes from the source, to minimize volume and lessen the hauling expenses on a daily basis.
Pineda is optimistic that if all stakeholders – households, workers, government officials, civil society, businessmen, among others -- would exert effort in protecting the environment, the problem would lessen.
Pineda disclosed that she has already worked for the hospitalization of more than 1,000 patients in a span of 30 days and yet, the number of Kapampangans who are seeking health assistance is getting bigger.
The governor concluded that the provincial government should not only intervene on medical assistance but should also look on the causes of health problems like environment degradation and abuse, like the indiscriminate dumping of waste.
Environmental Management Bureau regional director Lormelyn Claudio said she has found a serious partner in the person of the governor.
Claudio said she was impressed that in a short period of time, she has managed to gather all local government officials and ask them to start cleaning their barangays and solve their waste problem.
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