A team from the municipal government of Hermosa, Bataan with some employees of the corporation inspect the landfill. Photo by Ernie Esconde
HERMOSA, Bataan — The municipal government here on Monday issued a Notice of Violation against a dumpsite in one of its villages, threatening it of closure if not corrected and will pose danger to public health.
Mayor Jopet Inton enumerated various violations allegedly committed by Econest Waste Management Corp., sanitary landfi ll operator that has been operating in Barangay Mambog since July 2017 under a private-public- partnership (PPP) scheme with the local government.
“Una, unsegregated waste. Tumatanggap ito ng unsegregated waste sa ibang bayan samantalang kami dito nagpapakahirap para magsegregate ng basura,” he said.
Inton said that based on its category as a sanitary landfi ll, certain conditions have to be met: “Una, kailangan every day after magtapon ng basura, iko-kober ng six inches na soil ang basurahan pero wala. Pangalawa, pangako walong taon ang Cell 1 pero two years pa lang puno na. Overloaded na ang Cell 1.”
“Pangatlo, ang leachate pond. Kailangan ang leachate pond meron chlorination. Wala pa. Nang mag-inspect ako, wala,” the mayor added.
Another thing, the mayor said, was that the landfill company constructed building without permit, without the consent of the local government: “Wala ng respeto sa munisipyo ng Hermosa bilang partner sa PPP.”
The mayor said Econest should not forget that the local government owns the sanitary landfill but that he was surprised why employees of the municipal government were barred from entering and inspecting the dumpsite.
”Ang tagal ko nang hinihingi ang financial statement nila. Ang ibinibigay puro expenses pero ang income hanggang ngayon wala at hindi nag-reremit sa pamahalaang lokal ng share na dapat natatanggap nito,” Inton said.
He explained that their agreement was for the municipal government to dump garbage in the landfill free of charge: “Noong una zero billing kami pero ngayong may violations ito, may billing bigla ang munisipyo.”
The mayor said he could not understand why the company makes decisions without the consent of the municipality: “Saan ka makakakita ng partnership na hindi ini-inform ang partner?”
He said they were not informed of other areas outside of Bataan being allowed to dump wastes in the Hermosa landfill. “Ang usapan namin Hermosa at Bataan lang para matulungan ang lalawigan habang ginagawa pa ang para dito pero may Quezon City na at Laguna.”
Asked what he will do after serving the Notice of Violation, Inton said: “After i-serve ang Notice of Violation, tingnan natin compliance nila. Pag hindi sila nag-comply, wala akong magagawa. Ipapatigil ko basurahan kung ito’y magpo-pose ng danger sa public health.”
Orly Balean, municipal disaster risk reduction management chief, said they served the notice because of an incident last January 11 when a monitoring and inspection team discovered dump trucks with unsegregated wastes dumping in the landfill: “Malinaw ang mandato ng batas na dapat segregated ang dinadala sa landfill.”
Balean said they inspected the area to see if it is complying with the provisions of the law, finding: “May mga pangangailangan pang dapat ayusin.”
With Balean serving the notice were councilor Luz Samaniego, municipal secretary Atty. Joseph Sabado, Hermosa police chief Major Jeffrey Onde, municipal marshalls, and barangay officials.
Beverly Sevilleno received the Notice of Violation for Econest. “Siyempre, ire-review muna namin kung meron kami talagang na-violate and we will make remedial action, immediate actions kung in case meron man,” she said when asked to comment.
