Pajo proposes septage management ordinance

By ALWEN SALIRING,
Correspondent

With the aim to protect and promote public health in the city, this city’s council committee on health is proposing an ordinance which would regulate and enforce septage management program here.

This program would create and sustain a system where all septic tanks in the city are desludged on a regular basis and the collected septage is properly treated and disposed in accordance with national laws.

Councilor Dante Pajo, committee chair, said that this shall be known as the “Septage Management Ordinance” that would be applied to all septage coming from the septic tanks of buildings and structures whether public or privately owned; residential, commercial, institutional or industrial, except for some high-end subdivisions and malls which have their own disposal and treatment facility duly approved and with the permit to operate by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

During the committee meeting recently, they agreed that the City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (Clenro) will regulate the city septage management program.

Under the ordinance, the Clenro or its duly authorized representatives shall be permitted to enter all properties for inspection of any septic tank. Thus, property owners shall take appropriate actions to ensure that the desludger will have access to inspect and desludge any septic tank. However, if the septic tank is not accessible, it will be the responsibility of the owner to open the septic tank cover so it can be desludged.

Pajo said that the owners will be notified 20 days prior to the desluding schedule in coordination with the Sanguniang Baran-gay.

“At least once every five years mag-desludge”, he said.

It is also stipulated in the ordinance that whoever violates any provision of the ordinance shall be guilty of misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not to exceed P5 thousand or by imprisonment of six months.

However, the offender may opt to pay the following administrative fines within five days from receipt of notice of violation issued by Clenro: P1,500 for the first offense, P3 thousand for the second offense,  and P5 thousand for the third offense.