BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
As the local government unit of San Enrique continues to retrieve the garbage dumped at a private property in Pulupandan, Negros Occidental, residents of Purok 3 in Brgy. Ayungon, Valladolid, have complained against the illegal dumping of mixed waste by a dump truck allegedly owned by the municipal government of San Enrique.
Celina Segunla, officer in charge of the Valladolid Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO), in her letter to Mayor Enrique Miravalles, attached with the petition letter of concerned residents, said the lot where the garbage is being dumped is owned by San Enrique Mayor Jilson Tubillara.
The concerned residents, in their letter to Ayungon barangay chairman Hernani Esclamad Jr. dated August 2, with copies forwarded to Segunla said, “it is everybody (sic) knowledge that dumping of mixed waste, especially with hazard waste in an open dump site is prohibited in accordance with RA 9003, which can create damage to our health, community, and our properties as well.”
We are therefore asking your intervention together with the MENRO to give preferential attention to this matter, the residents said in their petition letter.
The San Enrique municipal garbage has started already retrieval of garbage dumped at a private property in Brgy. Palaka Sur, Pontevedra, following a technical conference on October 13 at the Office of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office in Bacolod City.
Pulupandan Mayor Miguel Pena earlier issued a cease and desist order to stop the illegal dumping of garbage at the private property in Brgy, Palaka Sur, Pulupandan, allegedly by the municipal government of San Enrique.
During the technical conference, Tubillara made five commitments wherein they will immediately conduct removal of solid waste in Brgy Palaka Sur, Pulupandan; from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. only; to provide screens and cover to the dump trucks being used to transport the waste; to provide personnel collecting the garbage with personal protective equipment; and to ensure that the collected waste shall be safely disposed in their corresponding municipality.*
