What crisis? MMDA says enough dumps available

Zero-waste advocates scored the dumping of 80,000 metric tons of garbage from storm-hit cities even as the Metro Manila Development Authority assures residents of enough suitable sites to prevent a crisis.

MMDA general manager Robert Nacianceno admitted that storm Ondoy swamped the National Capital Region with 10 times its usual daily volume of trash.

“Yes, 80,000 metric tons have been accumulated,” he told Standard Today.

Nacianceno said Chairman Bayani Fernando has instructed local government units to work 24/7 for delivery to the municipalities of San Mateo and Rodriguez, Rizal; San Pedro, Laguna; along with Payatas, Quezon City, and Pier 18, Manila available to private haulers.

“I don’t think there is any problem. Those dumps are enough to accommodate Metro Manila’s 80,000 metric tons of trash.”

But Rei Panaligan of EcoWaste belittled Fernando’s waste management policy, urging localities not to rely too much on him.

“MMDA alone cannot address the persisting garbage problem. LGUs must step in. Quezon City has a lot of material recovery facilities in its 142 barangays. Local officials there must share their facilities and knowledge to recover recyclable materials and reduce waste to be thrown away at dumps,” he said.

Beau Bacongis of Greenpeace Philippines said MMDA’s sites violated the law banning open dumps, especially those located in watershed areas.

“The issue of where to dump the trash of Metro Manila is a big question. All dumps identified by MMDA are illegally operating and must be ordered closed,” Panaligan said.

He said the Supreme Court has ordered MMDA, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, local government units and other government agencies to save and clean up Manila Bay but the agency was still dumping at an abandoned pier in front of Smokey Mountain in Tondo, on the shoreline of Manila Bay itself.

“It is a disaster to throw garbage at Pier 18,” he said.

But Bacongis said the facility was only a transit point and the garbage temporarily held there would be dumped in the designated sites.

Panaligan also called on MMDA to stop dumping in San Pedro, Laguna.

“We had been in the area, which is near an agricultural land and water tributaries.”

The San Mateo landfill and Rodriguez dump continue to operate and accept Metro Manila’s wastes despite a pending case filed by EcoWaste, according to Bacongis, compounding the risk to the Marikina watershed and other major tributaries along with the drinking water supply of the metropolis.

She said Environment Secretary Lito Atienza and mayors must also be held liable for failure to stop the dumps’ illegal operation. –Rio N. Araja, Manila Standard Today