Japan to help solve MM garbage woes

The Japanese are coming. More precisely, money is coming from Tokyo to help Manila institute a more efficient waste disposal system in the capital and surrounding areas.

Japan has granted $1.25 million to the Philippines to help fund the Metro Manila Solid Waste Management Project (MMSWMP), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said yesterday.

In a memorandum of agreement signed yesterday with the Asian Development Bank, the Japanese government’s Asian Currency Crisis Support Facilities will provide the grant to finance consultancy services, training, and establishment of pilot materials recovery facilities (MRFs).

MRFs are components of a garbage management plan under Republic Act 9003, the Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

"Through the assistance of our foreign partners, we intend to implement the spirit of the law, particularly its provisions on waste segregation, recycling, composting and proper treatment," Environment Secretary Heherson Alvarez said.

Under the grant, local government units will be directly assisted in the formulation of local solid waste management plans such as the design, establishment and maintenance of 10 MRFs, buy-back centers, and multi-purpose cooperatives in collaboration with private contractors.

The grant also aims to strengthen institutional structures and implementation of solid waste management through the community-based solid waste management (CBSWM) approach.

According to Alvarez, CBSWM helps address both household and medical wastes segregation, treatment, and disposal practices and operations; implementation of training programs for medical workers, sanitary inspectors and disposal system operators; and strengthening of information, education, and communication initiatives.

Alvarez admitted that at this point, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act and the Clean Air Act remain unfunded by Congress and are being supported instead by foreign governments.

The MMSWMP is a $1.8-million project. With the $1.250 million grant from Tokyo, Manila will have to provide for the remaining $550,000.