SORSOGON CITY --- Sorsogon province will be the venue for the Omnibus Review of the provisions of Republic Act 9003, otherwise known as “The Solid Waste Management Act of 2003,” according to Gov. Sally Lee.

        Lee said the Southeast Asia Urban Environment Management Application (SEA-UEMA), under the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), has identified Sorsogon as learning resource center and pilot province for the assessment of RA 2003.

        “Sorsogon was chosen among the 81 provinces all over the country. Being chosen as venue for the one-year policy review is an offshoot of our continuous networking efforts with other local and foreign organizations,” she disclosed.

        Lee added a Flagship Project Inception Workshop was recently conducted in the province as part of the policy advocacy component of the SEA-UEMA project.

        ”We also launched the project and signed the Tripartite Memorandum of Agreement among the Provincial Government, Local Government Academy (LGA) and La Salle Institute of Governance (LSIG) last March, this year. These activities were all part of the preparation stage before the project will be fully implemented,” she said.

        ”Dr. Francisco Magno, LSIG director, and Mr. Marlon Era, also of La Salle-Manila, facilitated a consultation dialogue for the creation of the technical working group that will review RA 9003,” she also said.

        Lee noted the policy review is necessary because some provisions in RA 9003 were found to be difficult for local government to comply with or implement.

        RA 9003 mandates waste segregation in every household, recycling and composting of wastes in the barangay level, and the collection of wastes which are un-recyclable or which cannot be composted by the municipal or city government to be dumped in a sanitary landfill.

        Barangays Pangpang here and Zone 2 in Bulan town will be the venues for the assessment projects on the Solid Waste Management Program.

        Following the 1-year policy review, the technical working group will submit a proposal to the national government on amendments, including issues and concerns on the non-compliance of some provisions in RA 9003, particularly the implementation of sanitary landfill. BARecebido, PIA Sorsogon