THIS is good news to the city of Urdaneta, the melting pot of trade and commerce as well as education in eastern Pangasinan.

The closure order issued by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) central office in 2020 on the Sanitary Landfill Facility (LSF) of Urdaneta City in Barangay Catablan along the Urdaneta-Mapandan Road was already lifted in April this year.

EMB Regional Director Engr. Dorina Hefi told the ‘Kapihan sa Ilocos’ hosted by the Philippine Information Agency, that the Urdaneta City government filed a motion for reconsideration to the cease and desist order issued by EMB in 2020.

Its motion was granted after the city government fully complied with the recommendations of EMB, and in fact a contractor in charge of expanding the landfill area was already designated.

However, the newly reopened SLF will only be for the exclusive use of LGU Urdaneta alone and cannot accept the garbage of other cities and municipalities like it did before for a fee.

Meanwhile, Hefi said that of all the 125 LGUs in Region 1, 71 have already established their respective SLFs and those that do not yet have, were given access to the big SLFs in Metro Clark in Capas, Tarlac.

She said EMB continues to encourage LGUs to put up their respective SLFs because bringing wastes to Metro Clark entails higher transport expenses, which some LGUs cannot afford. She acknowledged the difficulty of some local governments to find suitable lands in their respective jurisdictions for their SLF.

Hefi reminded local governments that before an SLF can be operational, an Environmental Compliance Certificate must be secured to ensure that Republic Act 9003 or the Solid Waste Management Act is strictly complied with.

She also encouraged towns and cities to consider the establishment of a Waste to Energy Facility like the facility in Boracay.

Then Mayor Belen Fernandez partnered with Sure Global to establish a Waste to Energy Facility in Dagupan in 2019 but this was aborted by then Mayor Brian Lim. (Leonardo Micua)

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