BAGUIO CITY –The Cordillera office here of the Department of the Interior and the Local Government (DILG) slammed local government units (LGUs) in the region for their continuous inability and inaction to solve the garbage problems in their respective areas of responsibility through the establishment of controlled dump facilities or engineered sanitary landfill.

Worst, key areas in the region, particularly the urban centers, are the ones compounding the worsening garbage woes in the area, thus, the unabated dumping of solid waste by households in waterways has contributed to the pollution of the major river systems.

Partick Unos, DILG-CAR regional director, cited Baguio, Bontoc, Tabuk and Lagawe allegedly contribute largely to the garbage crisis being encountered by the major river systems in Northern Luzon, thus, the need for local governments to incorporate climate change and disaster risk reduction measures in planning future projects in order to address such problems in the future.

During a recent forum on climate change adoptability and disaster risk reduction, the DILG-CAR official admitted that highly urbanized areas produce the biggest volume of waste which contributes to the worsening air, water and land pollution.

According to him, the waste around the Chico River being willfully dumped by residents in surrounding communities of Mountain Province down to Kalinga compound the garbage woes of the whole region.

Furthermore, he added compounding the garbage problem is the alleged lack of waste management plans in the region which makes waste segregation per household still a dream, thus, the Regional Development Council (RDC) in the Cordillera is trying to make appropriate moves to mandate local governments to fulfill the provisions of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act or Republic Act (RA) 9003.

The RDC-CAR wants local governments to integrate more funding for solid waste disposal in their respective budgets, thus, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) in the cordillera was directed to check the compliance of local officials on the said mandate.