In light of the recent concerns surrounding the impending expiration of Metro Clark Waste Management Corp.’s (MCWMC) 25-year contract for the Kalangitan sanitary landfill facilities in Capas, Tarlac, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) will assist local government units, government agencies, and locators to explore alternative solutions for the affected stakeholders’ waste disposal requirements to ensure non-disruption of solid waste management services.
Pursuant to the legal opinion of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), BCDA’s statutory counsel, extending the contract between Clark Development Corporation (CDC) and MCWMC beyond October 2024 would be against the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law, the framework used in bidding and awarding the contract for the project.
Moreover, the BCDA maintains that a sanitary landfill is no longer consistent with the government’s vision of transforming New Clark City into a premier investment and tourism destination.
According to a report from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) Region III, 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.
Further, the BCDA has been invited to the opening of another materials recovery facility in Porac, Pampanga with a capacity of 5,000 MT per day. This brings the total combined capacity 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. This should allay fears of a looming garbage and health crisis in the region.