COTABATO CITY — The Sub-Committee on Regional Solid Waste Management (SCRSWM) under the Regional Land Use Committee (RLUCom) of the Bangsamoro government formed on Tuesday, October 12, a technical working group (TWG) during the sub-committee’s first regular meeting at the office of the Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority (BPDA) in this city.
SCRSWM-TWG was formed to provide technical support in the formulation, update, review and recommendation of solid waste management plans of the local government units in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Comprising the SCRSWM-TWG are the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Energy (MENRE) as the chairperson, Ministry of Interior and Local Governance (MILG) as vice-chairperson, and member agencies including the Ministries of Science and Technology (MOST), Public Works (MPW), Health (MOH); Trade, Investment and Tourism (MTIT), Agriculture, Fishery and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR), Indigenous People Affairs (MIPA), Transportation and Communication (MOTC), Human Settlement and Development (MHSD), Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE), Bangsamoro Darul-Ifta’, Office of the Chief Minister (OCM), and BPDA as the technical secretariat.
The member agencies shall also designate its focal persons and his/her alternate who will attend in various workshops and meetings organized by the said sub-committee.
Furthermore, the SCRSWM is a sub-committee of the Regional Land Use Committee (RLUCom) under Bangsamoro Economic and Development Council (BEDC), mandated to provide support in the implementation of the Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Waste Management Act of 2000.
Engr. Mohajirin T. Ali, BPDA Director General and head of the secretariat, said this sub-committee will play a very important role as it will serve as the region’s policy making body on solid waste management.
“This sub-committee will assist our LGUs in formulating their own local solid waste management plans,” Ali stressed.
Moreover, one of the functions of the SCRSWM-TWG is to deliberate the 10-year SWM plans reviewed by the Environmental Management Services (EMS) of MENRE and SCRSWM secretariat which are subject for the approval of the said sub-committee.
Jamaica M. Dumacil, a representative from MOH, further suggested to indicate the specific functions of member ministries in the TWG.
“We will have a guideline for the specific function of each ministry,” said Engr. Amier Ashan Aplal, MENRE’s EMS chief and presiding chair of the said meeting.
Meanwhile, the sub-committee also aims to develop the Bangsamoro Government Center as its role model in the implementation of the solid waste management in the region. (BPDA-BARMM)