GENERAL SANTOS CITY (15 August 2013) - The City Government of General Santos along with the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) is set to install a Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Management Project in dumpsites in the city.
NSWMC Executive Director Emelita Aguinaldo, in a meeting with City Mayor Ronnel Rivera on August 7, said that the project aims to eliminate POPs due to the burning of thrash at dumpsites such as in Banluan, Barangay Tambler.
POPs are organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes.
These pollutants are known to have significant adverse impact on human health and the environment.
Aguinaldo said that to eliminate the treat of POPs, NSWMC has already proposed to Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau XII (DENR-EMB XII) for the closure of the said dumpsite.
The DENR-EMB XII has provided its guideline on how to shut down the open dumpsite at Tambler.
Proper installation of fences, gas vents and sloping of the dumpsite to prevent erosion were listed in the guidelines set.
The large compost pit at Barangay Sinawal will serve as the new landfill the moment that the dumpsite at Tambler is closed.
Mayor Rivera assured the waste management director that the city will back the said project in line also with the Mayor’s commitment towards a “Clean GenSan” or “Creating a Liveable Environment for All and the Nation in Gensan”.
A P2.2 Million fund will start the project while World Bank through the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) of the DENR will also post $350,000 to help subsidize the project.
GenSan is one of only six cities selected to avail of the said project along with Cabanatuan and Legaspi (Luzon); Iloilo and Bacolod (Visayas); and Butuan (Mindanao).
The project will be in full implementation by the year 2014. (GENSAN INFO OFFICE/Ian John M. Lagare)
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