WMD’s conversion into ENRO recommended
DAGUPAN’S waste management division (WMD) should be given more responsibilities other than garbage management and collection.
This was the recommendation of an environment group, specifically, that urbanized local government units like Dagupan should create the Environment and Natural Resources Office (ENRO) with added functions such as forest and water protection and pollution control.
Nathaniel Fuentes, president of the Pollution Control Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PCAPI) Region 1, said in a radio interview Wednesday that urban communities like Dagupan usually have pollution problems which are best addressed by the local government unit (LGU), not by the national government.
Fuentes explained that while the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has a mandate over such concerns, it cannot fully address these given its limited manpower.
“DENR ang lead agency hindi pero kakayanin ang manpower. Nasa LGU ang problema kaya nasa kanila rin ang solusyon,” he said.
Upon conversion into an ENRO, the existing WMD will have to hire additional personnel to serve as pollution control officers (PCO).
The first step, however, is for the city’s WMD to draft the city’s comprehensive environmental code (CEC), which the PCAPI can help draft.
The CEC, to be approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod, must be in line with existing city and barangay ordinances, as well as the provisions of national environmental laws, he pointed out.
DUMPSITE
Meanwhile, Fuentes also stressed that Dagupan must soon close its controlled dumpsite, particularly because of its proximity to the sea.
Under the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 (Republic Act No. 9003), dumpsites should have been illegal in 2006.
Nonetheless, Fuentes praised the city’s effort in keeping the dumpsite to a manageable level, noting the strict implementation of the “segregation at the source” policy.
The Dagupan City government recently initiated discussions with neighboring towns for the construction of a common sanitary landfill after its failed plan to build one in San Jacinto where the land was purchased for the purpose.
The city government has lost ownership of the property to the land reform program upon its purchase.
Meanwhile, Fuentes announced that PCAPI will hold its 10th Regional Convention at the Star Plaza Hotel in Dagupan on Nov. 9-11. (With report from PIA-Pangasinan)
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