The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) yesterday offered alternative landfills for Central Luzon local government units with the impending closure of the waste management contractor in New Clark City.
One of the options is the new materials recovery facility (MRF) of Prime Infra unit Prime Waste Solutions in Porac, Pampanga.
In a statement, BCDA said it is not renewing the contract of Clark Waste Management Corp. (MCWMC) which operates Kalangitan sanitary landfill facilities in Capas, Tarlac.
“Sanitary landfill is no longer consistent with the government’s vision of transforming New Clark City into a premier investment and tourism destination,” the BCDA said.
The 25-year contract of MCWMC ends in October.
BCDA said it has received an invitation for the inauguration tomorrow, June 5, of PWS’ MRF.
The facility has a capacity of 5,000 metric tons (MT).
The agency also cited a report from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau Region III which said there are two existing facilities in Pampanga that 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.
BCDA said with the three, the total combined capacity will come up 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.
BCDA said it will assist local government units, government agencies, and locators to explore alternative solutions for the affected stakeholders’ waste disposal requirements but did not specify what kind of assistance.
The agency also cited a legal opinion of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel , BCDA’s statutory counsel, which said extending the contract between Clark Development Corp. and MCWMC beyond October 2024 would be against the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, the framework used in bidding and awarding the contract for the project.
