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Garbage clearing operation at Baguio dumpsite to take 1 week


The garbage clearing operation in the areas surrounding the Irisan dumpsite in Baguio City may take about one week, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD)-Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) said Tuesday. In a report aired over GMA News TV's Balitanghali, OCD-CAR director Olivia Luces was quoted as saying that it may take them that long to remove 1,500 tons of trash from Asin Road, where trash from the Irisan dumpsite fell. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the garbage will be transported directly to a dumpsite in Capas, Tarlac. It said that Cordillera and Baguio City disaster management officials have conducted a meeting to discuss the immediate garbage clearing operation and rehabilitation of the Irisan dumpsite's wall, whose collapse led to the death of at least five people. An elderly woman remained missing as of posting time. "Lumber planks and plyboards will be used to create pathway on top of the garbage while sacks, shovels and pitchforks will be used to facilitate immediate clearing operations," the NDRRMC said.

The groups taking part in the clearing operations are:
  • the Armed Forces of the Philippines;
  • the Cordillera Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council;
  • Baguio City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, and
  • Irisan and community residents. The workers taking part in the operation will be given anti-tetanus serum vaccine while food and water supply will be provided by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council in Baguio City. But Luces was also quoted by GMA News reporter Jam Sisante as saying that the local government of Baguio is also looking into transferring garbage from the Irisan dumpsite to the towns of Malasiqui and Urdaneta in Pangasinan. Sisante, however, said that authorities are still in the process of negotiating the possible transfer. Illegal dumpsite? Meanwhile, in a report on GMA News TV's "Balita Pilipinas," presidential adviser for environmental protection Neric Acosta was quoted as saying that the Irisan dumpsite is illegal. In the report, Acosta said that local city officials should be held accountable for the tragedy since they have not done anything to close the dumpsite despite the implementation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 which bans open dumpsites. Article 6 Section 37 specifically states that "no open dumps shall be established and operated, nor any practice or disposal of solid waste by any person, including LGUs, which constitutes the use of open dumps for solid wastes, be allowed after the effectivity of this act." It likewise says that within three years of the effectivity of RA 9003, every local government unit shall convert its open dumps into controlled dumps, which are disposal sites wherein solid waste is deposited in accordance with the minimum prescribed standards of site operation, Under RA 9003, local government officials and other state officials who fail to enforce or comply with the act's rules and regulations shall be charged administratively. The report also said Acosta is against any plan to reconstruct the retaining wall of the dumpsite, stressing that it would be better if all the garbage will be taken out of the area. Mayor Mauricio Domogan could not be reached for his comments when the report was aired.
    Also on Tuesday, a separate report on GMA News TV's "News To Go" said residents in high-risk areas have been relocated to evacuation centers. But John Panay, a resident of Asin Road, said he was concerned that the garbage avalanche may happen again. "Problema namin marami pa diyan sa taas... pag tinuloy niya yung ulan babagsak din dito," he said in the television report. Josephine Rejesus, another resident in the area, blamed the local government for not maintaining the dumpsite properly. "Kasi naman di man lang nila ayusin yung dumpsite nila diyan, pinabayaan," she said. Because of this, Asin Road barangay captain Jerome Beswilen asked the local government of Baguio to close down the dumpsite. "Talagang malaking basura ang bumaba eh, nadaganan yung kalsada," he said in a separate interview. Baguio City Mayor Maurico Domogan, however, said that they are already working on transporting the garbage to another site. He likewise asked the residents to help by following their proposed trash segregation program. "Dapat magtulungan tayo so that we will not dump any garbage there anymore. Kung matutupad yung arrangement... yung residuals maisegregate, yung recyclables ibenta nila," he said in the same report. In July 2000, Typhoon Edeng triggered a landslide at the Payatas dumpsite in Quezon City where more than 200 people were killed. — RSJ, GMA News
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