Is it true the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) sent a letter to the Clark Development Corporation, operating arm of the Clark Freeport Zone, that it would take over the 100-hectare area of the Kalangitan Sanitary Landfill in Capas, Tarlac, when its contract ceases in October?
A CDC insider said the BCDA has already informed CDC that it would retake the area in Kalangitan which is near the New Clark City (NCC), the new growth center that is being pumprimed for development.
Both BCDA and CDC had announced there would be no extension in the utilization of the waste facility that is serving some 122 LGUs in Central Luzon, Region 1, and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). CDC President and CEO Atty. Agnes Devanadera said there “is no provision for an extension of the contract with the Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation’s (MCWMC).” The contract will end in four months.
Since the BCDA is now retaking control of the area in Kalangitan, it is but proper the Capas LGU and the MCWMC would have to deal with the new landlord. No one would touch that forsaken area of Kalangitan before, but eversince the growing development in the New Clark City and the opening of the Airport-New Clark City Access Road (ANAR) some months ago, real estate properties in the area had jack up in prizes. And the once forlorn area of Kalangitan is suddenly a prime area.
At the hearing conducted at the Capas Sangguniang Bayan on May 20, the BCDA represented by a certain Daryll Garcia had no clear alternative to the closure of the waste facility. Suddenly, Kalangitan Sanitary Landfill is no longer “aligned” with the plans of the BCDA for development in the much-vaunted NCC area.
The BCDA representatives could not simply satisfy the concerns of the Capas LGU. Said Capas Vice Mayor Alex Espina: “Parang isasara naming iyan, bahala na kayo sa buhay ninyo.”
This waste facility was rammed into our throats 25 years ago because we did not want it. Now that we are properly utilizing it, they want it back, said Espina.
Now that the BCDA wants the Kalangitan area, it did not take into consideration the apparent “environmental crisis” that may occur in the regions 3, 1 and CAR. They were simply engrossed by the NCC without considering the plight of LGUs, and the environmental mess that may occur.
Where will BCDA or CDC process the wastes of these growth centers? Nada
Which prompted Capas Mayor Roseller Rodriguez to say that they may sue the BCDA and CDC is no alternative waste facility come up. The local chief executive wants an extension in the utilization of the Kalangitan Sanitary Landfill and the development of a new one in Barangay Bueno.