THE ILOILO Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) has assured residents near a proposed sanitary landfill that the project is still subject to consultations and that it would not be a hazardous dumpsite. PENRO Senior Environmental Management Specialist Mitzi S. Peñaflorida explained that a landfill is a facility for a systematic management of waste. “That is why there is the word sanitary,” she said. Around 200 residents have signed a petition letter asking Gov. Arthur D. Defensor Sr. to reconsider the project, which they perceive “will bring harm more than benefits.” Ms. Peñaflorida said the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB)-Western Visayas has informed her that the P300-million funding proposal for the project is still pending before the EMB head office. “The EMB said it is very premature to react because the proposal is still on the funding stage and will still undergo series of meeting and consultation,” she said. Ms. Peñaflorida added that PENRO is also still working on identifying sites for the five clustered sanitary landfills that EMB is planning to set up in the province. — Louine Hope U. Conserva

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