2,400 TONS BASURA NG KOREA IBINIYAHE NA PAUWI

UMALIS  na kahapon ng umaga sa Mindanao International Container Terminal (MICT) sa Tagoloan, Misamis ­Oriental ang container ship na magbabalik sa South Korea ng  2,400 metric tons  ng mga basura.

Matapos ang may 19 na buwan  na pananatili sa Verde Soko  compound sa  Phividec Industrial Estate sa bayan ng Tagoloan,  ang  illegal waste imports   mula sa South Korea  ay inalis na ng  MICT port   lulan ng MV Nordmarsh, na kinumpirma rin  ng Bureau of Customs-Region 10 (BOC-10) sa EcoWaste Coalition.

Ang natitirang 2,700 tonelada ng   basura ng  South Korea ay inaasahang iuuwi rin  pabalik sa kanilang bansa sa  Pebrero 9  matapos itong i-repack  at mailipat  mula sa Phividec facility tungo sa  MICT stockyard.

Iniulat ni BOC-10 Port Collector John Simon  na  sasagutin ng gobyerno ng South Korea  ang  shipping cost na nagkakahalaga ng P10 milyon   alinsod sa “Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal” kung saan  pawang state parties ang Filipinas at South Korea.

Nakasaad sa Article 9  ng  Basel Convention   na “in case of a transboundary movement of hazardous wastes or other wastes deemed to be illegal traffic as the result of conduct on the part of the exporter or generator, the State of export shall ensure that the wastes in question are taken back by the exporter or the generator or, if necessary, by itself into the State of export.”

“We are breathing a sigh of relief now that the first batch of the contaminated plastic waste wrongly declared as ‘plastic synthetic flakes’ has departed,” pahayag ni Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition, na lumahok sa  multi-stakeholders’ meetings  na dinaluhan  ng  mga kinatawan ng  gobyerno ng   South Korea upang maresolba ang usapin.

Ang  Basel Ban Amendment,  ay nagbabawal sa member states  ng  Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the European Union (EU), at  Liechtenstein  ng page-export ng   mapanganib na basura  sa developing countries.