CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Various medical establishments in this city, including the Philippine Dental Association, are having difficulty disposing their hazardous waste, Councilor Roger Abaday said in his special report during the regular session of the city council here on Monday, Feb. 20.
“Galisod sila og labay sa ilang mga waste nila. Dili lang dental, kun dili hasta ang mga (They’re having a hard time disposing of their waste. Not just dental (clinics) but including) hospital; government and private hospitals,” said Abaday, chairman of the committee on environment.
He said medical establishments here, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (CLENRO), would go to Davao or Cebu just to dispose of their waste.
The councilor wants to address the concern as he also received a report that there are hospitals that throw their waste in the sanitary landfill in Barangay Pagalungan in this city.
This act was a clear violation of city ordinance 13715-2019 that deals with the proper handling, storage, collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of hazardous wastes.
Services that would help the medical establishments were emphasized during the special report of Abaday as they are paying taxes and contributing revenues to this city.
Engr. Armen Cuenca, CLENRO head, said the disposal of hazardous wastes, under the law, is the primary responsibility of the medical establishments and the city government just provides assistance.
In 2019, the city government started the foundation of the hazardous waste facility in the sanitary landfill in Barangay Pagalungan and it was finished in late 2020.
The facility has yet to obtain the necessary permit from the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the DENR-Region 10 to operate, but the CLENRO asked for an exemption due to the problems encountered in the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) here.
Cuenca said the facility only accepts hazardous waste from NMMC – a government hospital that is under the management of the Department of Health (DOH).
“We cannot cater to other hospitals except NMMC. Even the city hospital (city government-owned JR Borja General Hospital). We requested if we could include the city hospital but they did not allow us,” Cuenca said in the vernacular.
The city government is currently waiting to finish the wastewater treatment facilities that are under the supervision of the City Engineer’s Office being built in the sanitary landfill in Barangay Pagalungan.
The facility is the only lacking requirement before the city government can obtain the permit from EMB-DENR 10.
Cuenca said once they get the permit and the hazardous waste facility is ready, they can start accepting waste from all hospitals in Cagayan de Oro.
There was no timeline provided by the City Engineer’s Office to CLENRO on when the wastewater treatment facilities will be finished but the CLENRO is continuously doing follow ups.
Abaday’s special report was referred to his committee on environment as well as to the committee on health chaired by Councilor Maria Lourdes Gaane for the possible conduct of committee meetings together with the owners of the medical establishments in this city for further discussions.