Tarlac churches on Clark landfill project: Don’t bring hell to heaven

CAPAS, Tarlac — "Don’t bring tears to heaven. Don’t bring hell to heaven."

Churches of different religions boomed with this message yesterday as rage mounted over the insistence of the state-owned Clark Development Corp. (CD) to push through with the construction of a 100-hectare, multibillion-peso sanitary landfill in Barangay Kalangitan here.

Religious leaders echoed fears which Mayor Rey Catacutan has raised that the proposed landfill will be "a clear and present danger to generations to come" should its construction pushes through.

Earlier, the CDC disclosed that the German consortium, Ingenieurburo Birkham and Heers and Brockstedt, will commence work on the project this month.

The consortium will initially shell out P100 million, while the CDC said it will pay the affected families, whom it said number 19, P8.5 million in "disturbance fees."

Bishop’s support

Catacutan remains firm on his administration’s opposition to the project. Tarlac Bishop Florentino Cinense has thrown his "unwavering support" behind the mayor.

Also vehemently opposed to the landfill project are militant groups led by the left-leaning Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Tarlac and the Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Tarlac, the provincial affiliate of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.

Catacutan said that the municipal government "will not hesitate" in setting up barricades to prevent workers of the German consortium to begin work on the landfill.

CDC assurances

Despite the CDC’s repeated assurances that Metro Manila’s garbage will not be dumped in the proposed landfill, local officials, religious and militant leaders seem not appeased.

The CDC said only wastes from the Clark special economic zone and elsewhere in Central Luzon will be disposed of in the landfill.

"They (CDC officials) are missing the point of our protests," Catacutan said. "What we are protecting here is the safety and well-being of our people and our environment."

The mayor added that with wastes coming from companies and factories now located at the Clark ecozone and from hospitals in the region, "what assurance do we have against toxic contamination?"

The CDC said only 70 to 80 hectares of land in Barangay Kalangitan will be developed for the sanitary landfill, while the rest will be for road networks and the required infrastructure.

Upland site

Catacutan reminded the CDC that the village is located on the upland portion of Capas, thus, the likely threat that underground sources of water will be contaminated.

"Besides, Barangay Kalangitan is only a few kilometers away from the O’Donnell River," he added. The river is linked to the Tarlac River which snakes through Tarlac City and northern towns before it connects to the river systems of Pangasinan.