Plan to use Semirara for Metro garbage to push through

Malacañang said yesterday it will proceed with a plan to ship Metro Manila’s garbage to Semirara island in Antique after legal kinks are ironed out.

President Estrada assured Metro Manila residents that there will be a solution to the garbage problem in the metropolis even if the temporary restraining order (TRO) that suspended the plan to use Semirara as a dumping ground is not lifted.

"This will be over in the next few days," the President said.

If the TRO is not lifted, officials are considering other disposal sites closer to Metro Manila.

The other day, Mr. Estrada met with Executive Secretary Edgardo Angara, Presidential Flagship Projects Secretary Robert Aventajado Jr. and Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Jejomar Binay to discuss the consequences of the court order.

Semirara island residents, concerned with a possible environmental disaster if garbage is dumped there, were able to secure last week a 20-day TRO that effectively stopped the Presidential Task Force on Metro Manila Solid Waste Management from proceeding with the Semirara project.

As a result, two barges loaded with garbage failed to dock on Semirara and would have to return to Metro Manila soon.

In a radio interview, Angara said if the order is lifted, garbage piling up in Metro Manila could immediately be collected and shipped to the island.

Angara said the administration has come up with a contingency plan that involves two dumpsites accessible by land within Luzon.

He refused to identify the possible sites, saying only that the garbage would not have to be ferried by barges as was done in the case of Semirara.

In using Semirara, garbage had to be loaded on barges for a three-day journey that would take the vessels near some of the country’s best beach resorts and rich fishing grounds. Government officials have allowed two companies to develop a former coal mine into a garbage landfill in Semirara to accommodate Metro Manila’s garbage for at least two years.

Angara said both Aventajado and Binay were optimistic the court would eventually lift the TRO as soon as they submit a memorandum explaining the task force’s side on legal issues raised by the petitioners.

"They promised that within 10 days after the injunction is lifted, all of the garbage that has piled up in Metro Manila would be cleared," Angara said.

Josias Syquimsiam, an officer of the MMDA, said Metro Manila faces a major garbage crisis if protests and legal problems continue to prevent the Semirara landfill from opening.

Garbage heaps have grown along many Metro Manila streets since the main garbage landfill in San Mateo, Rizal was closed on Dec. 31. The landfill in San Mateo was permanently shut down because of pollution and health concerns, leaving much of the sprawling capital region with no garbage disposal area.

Meanwhile, Sen. Loren Legarda called for a Senate probe on the failure of the national government to comply with environmental requirements when it decided to set up a sanitary landfill on Semirara island.

In a privilege speech, Legarda said lawmakers must look at the circumstances that led to the selection of the island as a new dumpsite despite being a bird sanctuary and a tourist attraction. – With Perseus Echeminada, Jose Aravilla, Leo Solinap