Zambales resort owners hit waste disposal project

SAN NARCISO, Zambales - The Zambales Resort Owners Association (ZROA) is protesting a $48-million project that would dump Metro Manila’s septic tank and sewerage waste into the waters near Corregidor Island in Bataan.

ZROA president Dodo Ramos, of the Crystal Beach Resort in this town, said the project is slated to be launched anytime this month by the Metropolitan Water and Sewerage System (MWSS), Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Water Co. Inc., with a $48-million funding support from the World Bank.

"The project is supposed to improve the quality of sanitation services and minimize health hazards from waste water in Metro Manila by resorting to the so-called sea disposal of sewage off the coast of the Bataan peninsula, close to Corregidor," Ramos said.

Ramos, however, said, "The wave and wind pattern in Bataan travels toward the Zambales sea where thousands living in coastal towns would be affected."

He estimated that a maximum of 1,500 to 3,000 cubic meters of septic tank waste and sewage would be dumped in the waters of Bataan on a daily basis, and this would "adversely affect the integrity" of the waters of Bataan "known for (their) pristine and crystal-clear quality."

Ramos belied the claims of the project proponents that the dumping of wastes in the waters of Bataan would be more economical and environment-friendly than land-based treatment.

"Other countries have put a stop to sea dumping way back in 1998 under a European agreement known as the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive," he said, noting that the study for the Bataan project was conducted way back in 1996.

Some 200 members of ZROA would be adversely affected if the project is implemented, he warned.