Take our garbage, Metro asks neighbor provinces

Pay back the favor, please.

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando issued an appeal to neighboring provinces of Metro Manila to allow the hosting of a waste disposal facility since the metropolis is also a host to their waste.

Fernando said the MMDA is having a tough time looking for a site for a proposed landfill because of the "not-in-my-backyard" mentality of the local government in neighboring provinces.

The MMDA chief reminded them that the sewage of Rizal, Quezon, Laguna and Cavite are dumped in Metro Manila.

"Maybe they don’t know about this. So they should be made to understand," Fernando said.

He noted that sewer waste from the provinces go to the Marikina River, Laguna Lake and Manila Bay.

With a garbage-for-sewage deal, Metro Manila still appears to be on the losing end, Fernando said.

Because of the difficulty in finding a site, the MMDA has expressed intention of reopening the San Mateo sanitary landfill in Rizal to serve as a temporary dumping facility.

When the reports of the planned reopening of the San Mateo landfill came out, residents of Antipolo and San Mateo in Rizal immediately protested and vowed to block any attempts to push through with the plan.

Fernando said he has begun initial discussions on the plan with executives of affected towns and municipalities.

He explained that the facility would help address the disposal problems of Metro Manila while the MMDA works on the development of a new long-term facility in the Southern Luzon area.

The development of a new facility is part of the major railway project that will allow Metro Manila garbage to be transported on the trains of the Philippine National Railways.

At least six potential sites have already been identified by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the provinces of Bicol, Laguna and Quezon.

However, DENR Secretary Heherson Alvarez said Fernando is not too keen on the proposed sites because of problem of distance.

Alvarez noted that the sites are located some 20 to 25 kilometers from the railroad tracks. Also, there are no paved roads leading to the site.

Fernando has indicated he wants a site somewhere in the Candelaria, Batangas area, which is closer to Metro Manila.

Alvarez said the DENR is still studying whether it could use its forest resources to host the landfill site.

The DENR chief said there could be a way for the thousands of hectares of forest land in a given area to accommodate Metro Manila which needs only 2,000 hectares.

"Of course we have to proceed with extreme caution so that the forest would not be impaired," Alvarez said.