Sanitary order issued to district jail
THE City Health Office has issued an order to the Dagupan City District Jail to immediately stop discharging its waste water down the coastal areas of the city.
City Health Officer Leonard Carbonell, speaking before the city council last week, said findings made by his office also indicate that the ecosystem of the Lingayen Gulf will be continuously under threat if the jail remains at its present site.
In the order, addressed to Jail Warden Supt. Edgar Bolcio, Carbonell said the jail was cited for violating Presidential Decree No. 856, which prohibits establishments from discharging waste water in any body of water, and the Clean Water Act.
As a short-term solution to the problem, Carbonell said the jail’s septic tank should be regularly dislodged to prevent waste water from flowing to the sea.
While the relocation of the jail is being planned, he recommends the construction of a bigger septic tank at the existing facility in proportion to the number of inmates at the over-populated district jail.
Carbonell said that given the present population of 352, dislodging by an authorized operator should be frequent. The jail was built for a maximum population of 100 inmates.
City Administrator Alvin Fernandez previously sent a dislodger to the jail once but no further dislodging has been undertaken since.
The situation at the city jail was discussed anew in the city council at the continuation of investigation in aid of legislation on motion of Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo, chair of the committee on tourism.
OTHER CULPRITS
Bolcio earlier told the city council that it is not only the district jail that discharges waste water into the sea but also residential houses, other establishments and commercial prawn hatcheries.
His statement was shared by City Tourism Officer Michelle Lioanag who added that the water coming from the jail is “acceptable”, having been filtered and settled in the septic tank’s chambers.
“What they are saying that the water coming from the jail is clean is not true,” said Carbonnel, adding no establishment is allowed to discharge its waste water down the sea.
Carbonell belied reports that prawn hatcheries are contributing to the pollution of the Lingayen Gulf as there is now only one functioning prawn hatchery in the area.
He said there will always be a problem on health and sanitation and the environment if the jail remains at its present site.
At the same time, he said the distance of the northern wall of the district jail to the water is quite worrisome even as he shared the view of Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez that the jail’s facilities must be expanded but in another site.
Fernandez and Carbonell said relocation is necessary as the sea water is now getting closer to the shore due to the impact of climate change.
One councilor proposed the relocation of the city jail to the 30-hectare lot bought by the city in barangay Awai, San Jacinto at a cost of P16 million, originally intended for the city’s waste disposal system.—LM
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