Bacolod City – Following plans of the local government unit of Pulupandan to return the garbage of a neighboring LGU that was dumped in a private property located in their town, San Enrique Mayor Jilson Tubillara recently said that he already issued an order to get back all the garbage as soon as possible.
This was after Mayor Miguel Antonio Peña issued a “cease and desist” order against a property owner in Brgy. Palaka Sur, Pulupandan, Negros Occidental, for operating an open dumpsite, where the garbage being dumped allegedly originates from a neighboring LGU.
While he admitted that they dumped garbage in the private property, but not in regular basis, and especially during bad weather, Tubillara explained that it was the property owner who requested that it will be dumped in his property, as filling material.
He also revealed that Valladolid dumped their garbage at a private property in Pulupandan. But he said that he and Valladolid Mayor Enrique Miravalles, as well as Mayor Pena have already reached an agreement that they will recover all the waste from the site.
It is a controlled dumpsite. After dumping your garbage, you cover it with soil. It is not an open dumpsite, Tubillara pointed out.
He also that San Enrique has already opened its segregation facilities, with composting machines donated by Senator Cynthia Villar, noting also that majority of their wastes could be decomposed.
Tubillara also clarified that it was not the dump truck of San Enrique that was caught by personnel of the Pulupandan municipal office, dumping garbage, but of the Valladolid municipal government.
Peña, in his letter to Novo Torres, the owner of the property in Brgy. Palaka Sur, Pulupandan, disclosed that operating an open dumpsite is a violation of Republic Act 9003, known as the Ecological Solid Waste Program.
Due to the hazardous nature of the waste and garbage, Peña said he ordered the property to stop the operations of illegal dump site, as directed in the issued CDO, while investigations are ongoing.
“Due to the hazardous nature of the waste/garbage, for the safety of Pulupandan residents, you are prohibited to remove the same, and your property shall be closed to the public, while we explore the proper disposal methods, which shall be charged to you,” the mayor said in his letter to Torres, dated September 2.
Tubillara also denied that they dumped hazardous waste like medical waste, stressing that they a septic tank for such purposes.
It may belong to Valladolid because they have a hospital there, he stressed. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), photo courtesy of TVDS)