BCDA BELIES LOOMING GARBAGE CRISES IN THE NORTHERN PROVINCES

June 7, 2024 Headlines

BAGUIO CITY

The state-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) vowed to assist local government units, government agencies, and locators to explore alternative solutions for their waste disposal requirements to ensure nondisruption of solid waste management services. The Metro Clark Waste Management Corp.’s (MCWMC) 25-year contract for the Kalangitan sanitary landfill facilities in Capas, Tarlac is due to expire worrying various LGUs, including Baguio City, bringing their solid waste into the facility.

According to the legal opinion of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), BCDA’s statutory counsel, extending the contract between Clark Development Corporation (CDC) and MCWMC beyond October 2024 would be against the BuildOperate-Transfer (BOT) Law, the framework used in bidding and awarding the contract for the project, the BCDA stressed in a statement sent to journalists Tuesday. BCDA maintains that a sanitary landfill is no longer consistent with the government’s vision of transforming New Clark City into a premier investment and
tourism destination, said Zyrelle del Prado, head of the BCDA public affairs department.

Del Prado also belied a looming garbage crisis with the imminent closure of the Tarlac sanitary landfill, citing the
Department of Environment and Natural ResourcesEnvironmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) Region III
report that two existing facilities in Pampanga may be utilized upon the end of MCWMC’s contract. These facilities have a combined total capacity of 3,500 metric tons (MT) of domestic waste per day, and a potential to expand further to 6,000 MT. The BCDA has been invited to the opening of another materials recovery facility in Porac,
Pampanga with a capacity of 5,000 MT per day, thus bringing the total combined capacity to 11,000 MT, which is more than enough to address the solid waste management requirements of Tarlac, Pampanga, and other provinces in and around the region.

AAD/ABN/Region/Feurella Forosan/UC-Intern