EMB issues final notice to 360 LGUs to adopt ESWM

By RODRIGO S. VICTORIA, PIA 8
January 14, 2011

QUEZON CITY  –  With the considerable number of Local Government Units (LGUs) in the country still not complying what is required in the provisions of RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, the Environmental and Management Bureau (EMB) issued a final notice to 360 LGUs in the country to adopt the Ecological Solid Waste Management (ESWM).

EMB Assistant Director Gilbert Gonzales relayed this information to the information officers of the Philippine Information Agency coming from the different PIA regional offices in a press conference held here Thursday in the conference room of PIA Central Office.

Assistant Director Gonzales said that despite the enactment of RA 9003 ten years ago, there were LGUs that did not bother to implement ESWM in their area.

Included in the final notice issued by EMB is the establishment of Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) in all barangays nationwide, he said.

Section 10 of Chapter II of RA 9003 provides LGUs to be primarily responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the provisions of this Act within their respective jurisdictions pursuant to the relevant provisions of R.A. No. 7160, otherwise known as the Local Government Code.

He emphasized that LGUs not complying with RA 9003 is penalized in the amount of P500,000 and will also be slapped with a criminal complaint.

However, he said that there were many LGUs in the country which already complied with RA 9003.

He further said that the financial capability of LGUs is one of the reasons why there are LGUs that did not comply with RA 9003.

It will require 20 to 30 million pesos to establish a sanitary landfill having an area of two to three kilometers in size which is required by RA 9003 plus the additional cost of maintaining it.

Assistant Director Gonzales hoped that the 360 LGUs notified to adopt ESWM will comply to avoid being penalized and to help solve the problem on waste disposal.