By R.G. Cadavos

Maasin City, Southern Leyte (29 October) -- The Southern Leyte Pacific Municipal Environmental Alliance (SoLePaMEA) consisting of the municipalities of Anahawan, San Juan and Saint Bernard together with the Environment Management Bureau (EMB) based in Tacloban City signed a Memorandum of Agreement, Friday at the ABC Building in St. Bernard pertaining to Ecological Solid Waste Management Program, Tourism Officer Jane Aranata in her report sent to PIA said.

The three mentioned municipalities in the Pacific area grouped together to face a greater challenge in implementing the provisions of the ESWM Act of 2000, in close coordination with the DENR-8 CENRO San Juan, and the GTZ-AHT Solid Waste Management for Local Government Units (SWM4LGUs) Project, a German government organization who plays a vital role in the implementation.

Araneta reported that prior to the MOA signing, steps in Alliance Building were conducted such as analyzing strengths and weaknesses; conducted series of planning workshops in crafting the LGU's medium-term work plans and identification of gaps and options; a joint Sangguniang Bayan (SB) session on SWM/SLF which discussed joint support, waste diversion-disposal and financing, among others.

The final milestone prior to the MOA signing was last October 14-15 wherein results revealed how each municipality shared similar perceptions with regards to the sharing of finances and workload. San Juan targeted to focus on establishing a model materials recovery facility (MRF), while Anahawan envisions to establish pilot recycling and composting and the town of Saint Bernard proposed to specialize on segregation and social marketing for public participation, St. Bernard Municipal Disaster Coordinating Council Public Information Officer(MDCC-PIO)-designate Araneta disclosed in her press release.

The MOA between the three municipalities agreed to consolidate efforts in the establishment of the integrated ecological and solid waste management system to serve their respective jurisdictions efficiently and will jointly allocate funds and mobilize investments for planning, construction and operations of jointly coordinated SWM programs as prescribed. While they also committed to organize and sustain the SoLePaMEA and finally, to actively make available their special knowledge, pilot sites and showcases in ESWM to the other LGUs and constituents and actively support and participate in networking and knowledge sharing.