ANGELES CITY – Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan has tossed the dumpsite charges to his neighbor Mabalacat Mayor Marino Morales, in a case of barking up the wrong tree.
Pamintuan asked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which was reported to have said this city still maintains already outlawed dumpsites, to take a second look throughout and find the dirt beyond boundaries.
The mayor issued this clarification after Angeles was named as one of the local government units (LGUs) in Pampanga which were warned by the DENR-Environmental Management Bureau for maintaining open dumpsites.
“DENR-EMB could not have issued any closure order to any Angeles dump site because there’s none in the first place. We no longer have one in the city as what we have here is a transfer station or a material recovery facility (MRF) in Barangay Pampang.” Pamintuan said.
The mayor noted that after waste segregation at the MRF, city garbage is transported to the sanitary landfill in Montalban, Rizal.
This, even as Barangay Balibago chairman Tony Mamac also insisted that his area, which is one of the most populated in this city, has no open dumpsite and that garbage could only be found across from this city’s boundary in Barangay Duquit in Mabalacat town.
Mamac was accompanied recently by Pamintuan during an inspection of an old dumpsite along a creek at sitio Hadrian that connects barangays Balibago and Duquit in nearby Mabalacat town.
The village chief showed Pamintuan the development at the sitio, including the rehabilitation of the Hadrian part of the creek, removal of garbage and the establishment of a material recovery facility in the area.
Mamac said that when he assumed office in 2007, he already started cleaning sitio Hadrian. He added that he also cleared the creek of massive rubbish to enable its water to flow freely.
Pamintuan said had already met with Mabalacat Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales who, he noted, vowed to tackle Mabalacat’s garbage problem with the town’s solid waste management council.
“They plan to work on the immediate clean-up and rehabilitation of the Duquit creek,” Pamintuan said.
Environment Secretary Ramon Paje recently asked the EMB in Central Luzon to close the open or controlled dumpsites beginning last January 27.
Also ordered closed were sites in the City of San Fernando, Angeles City and the towns of Arayat, Floridablanca, Guagua, Mabalacat, Macabebe, Magalang, Masantol, Mexico, Minalin, Porac, San Luis, Sasmuan, Sta. Ana and Sto. Tomas.
DENR regional director Ricardo Calderon said many Pampanga local governments have failed to comply with Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.
Pamintuan asked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which was reported to have said this city still maintains already outlawed dumpsites, to take a second look throughout and find the dirt beyond boundaries.
The mayor issued this clarification after Angeles was named as one of the local government units (LGUs) in Pampanga which were warned by the DENR-Environmental Management Bureau for maintaining open dumpsites.
“DENR-EMB could not have issued any closure order to any Angeles dump site because there’s none in the first place. We no longer have one in the city as what we have here is a transfer station or a material recovery facility (MRF) in Barangay Pampang.” Pamintuan said.
The mayor noted that after waste segregation at the MRF, city garbage is transported to the sanitary landfill in Montalban, Rizal.
This, even as Barangay Balibago chairman Tony Mamac also insisted that his area, which is one of the most populated in this city, has no open dumpsite and that garbage could only be found across from this city’s boundary in Barangay Duquit in Mabalacat town.
Mamac was accompanied recently by Pamintuan during an inspection of an old dumpsite along a creek at sitio Hadrian that connects barangays Balibago and Duquit in nearby Mabalacat town.
The village chief showed Pamintuan the development at the sitio, including the rehabilitation of the Hadrian part of the creek, removal of garbage and the establishment of a material recovery facility in the area.
Mamac said that when he assumed office in 2007, he already started cleaning sitio Hadrian. He added that he also cleared the creek of massive rubbish to enable its water to flow freely.
Pamintuan said had already met with Mabalacat Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales who, he noted, vowed to tackle Mabalacat’s garbage problem with the town’s solid waste management council.
“They plan to work on the immediate clean-up and rehabilitation of the Duquit creek,” Pamintuan said.
Environment Secretary Ramon Paje recently asked the EMB in Central Luzon to close the open or controlled dumpsites beginning last January 27.
Also ordered closed were sites in the City of San Fernando, Angeles City and the towns of Arayat, Floridablanca, Guagua, Mabalacat, Macabebe, Magalang, Masantol, Mexico, Minalin, Porac, San Luis, Sasmuan, Sta. Ana and Sto. Tomas.
DENR regional director Ricardo Calderon said many Pampanga local governments have failed to comply with Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.
