THE dumping of human wastes in the Lingayen Gulf by the Dagupan City Jail finally got the goat of the Dagupan City council.

Councilor Jose Tamayo, chair of the committee on tourism, cited THE PUNCH for exposing the continued dumping of human wastes at the Lingayen Gulf by the city district jail operated by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, a national agency.

In a privilege speech on Monday, Tamayo proposed that Dagupan City Jail Warden Supt. Edgar Bolcio be invited to the city council’s regular session on February 2 to shed light on the issue.

Bolcio will be asked about the situation in the city jail and seek his recommendations on how the city council can help resolve the problem.

Tamayo rallied his colleagues saying he cannot see the point of developing tourism at Tondaligan Park if the city jail continues to dump wastes by the beach shores.

Tondaligan Park is now being shunned by tourists because of the stench emanating from the beach water fronting the city jail. Barangay residents have also complained of the worsening stench and filth in the beachfront.

Meanwhile, Councilor Michael Fernandez said he was informed that City Administrator Alvin Fernandez already sent a dislodging company to the city jail to siphon wastes from its overflowing septic tank.

Fernandez, however, acknowledged that this was only a temporary solution and that a more permanent solution has to be undertaken.

At the same time, Fernandez concurred with the earlier statement of Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. that the Dagupan city government should not be the sole provider of the needs of the city jail but there should also be a counterpart from the national government or the BJMP.

Bolcio has asked the city government to finance the expansion of the city jail that is now packed with more than 380 prisoners in a 100-capacity facility.

The development plan costs P5.54 million, an amount which the BJMP, the warden said, cannot provide. —LM

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