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By Bohol Sunday Post

At least seven municipalities have been issued the “authority to close” (ATC) their open dumpsites pursuant to Republic Act 9003 , also known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. The ecological solid waste management regional office through regional coordinator Amancio S. Dongcoy issued the ATCs to the towns of Loon, Calape, Tubigon, Danao , Bilar, Cortes and Jagna, all in Bohol. It was not immediately known if Calape and Loon town have complied with the requirement since they were issued an ATC on December 28, 2008 while the town of Tubigon on December 14, 2009. The towns of Danao was issued the closure authority on Feb. 12, 2010; Bilar, May 12, 2010; Cortes, August 25, 2010 and Jagna, January 25, 2011.

The directive also mandated to enforce the ATCs to other municipalities in other provinces in the region. They are Lapulapu City, Balamban, Badian, San Francisco, Sogod, Daanbantayan, Mandaue and Naga City, all in Cebu; and Sta. Catalina, Bayawan City , Sibulan, Valencia and Dumaguete City , all in Negros Oriental ; and Maria, Siquijor. The said law provides that “o pen dump sites shall not be allowed as final disposal sites.” Existing ones must be closed based upon the plan. “As an alternative, sanitary landfill sites shall be developed and operated as a final disposal site for solid and, eventually, residual wastes of a municipality or city or a cluster of municipality and/or cities.

Sanitary landfills shall be designed and operated in accordance with the guidelines set under Secs. 40 and 41 of this Act,” the law says. Under the said law, open dump sites in the localities are prohibited to operate and the practice of disposal of solid wastes in these areas is also banned. The open-pit type of wastes disposal sites should be converted into controlled dump area in accordance with the guidelines set under section 41 of the law. But no “controlled dump sites” shall exist forever or be allowed after five years following the effectivity of the law. LGUs should have secure first an Environment Compliance Certificate (ECC) based on Presidential Decree 1586 when they planned to set up a new solid waste management facility.

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