Maasin City starts to implement 10-year solid waste management plan
By Erna Gorne
Maasin City (4 October) -- The Maasin City Solid Waste Management (SWM) - Technical Working Group (TWG), who will carry out the leg work for the implementation of the 2006-2007 work plan within the ten-year solid waste management program sit down to work on its first meeting in close coordination with German Technical Cooperation (GTZ)–AHT consultants.
The SWM-TWG hand picked by Mr. Benjase Lumen, Chief of the Office of the General Services, is a mutli-sectoral composition graced with the participation of Sangguniang Panglungsod members, city officials, environmentalists, solid waste fabricators, media, academe and priority barangay captains in the locality.
There are 15 priority barangays, who are served by the garbage collection of the city government everyday. While the remaining 55 barangays of the city shall concentrate on composting as OGS Chief Lumen assessed the situation.
The GTZ-AHT consultants is working closely with 10 selected local government units (LGUs) throughout the country where Maasin City has been considered among the selected few. Later in September 2006, GTZ-AHT forged a memorandum of agreement with the City of Maasin for the implementation of a strong solid waste management program based on Republic Act 9003.
In the said meeting, the first two years particularly 2006-2007 work plan has been reviewed and refined. It includes the goal on finalizing the preparation of the 10-year SWM Plan by the end of this year and agreed by all stakeholders. That the Sangguniang Panglungsod will recognize the urgency of the program.
The meeting also tackled on the identification of sanitary landfill by the second quarter of 2007 since the present open dumpsite has been operating illegally. The Environment Management Bureau (EMB) – 8 issued a Cease and Desist Order (CDO) to the city of Maasin for operating the present dumpsite however under some compromises. That by the end of 2007, the design for the new sanitary landfill shall be identified and completed with the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) as approved by EMB-8.
Another milestone the SWM plan hopes to achieve is the creation of a City Environment and Natural Resources Office (ENRO) department and approved by the SP. The office will handle the solid waste management, coastal management and the forestry management of the city, among other activities lined up for the next two years. (PIA So. Leyte) [top]
