Victorias Milling Company has already assisted 2,333 households and de-commissioned its 10,000 cubic-meter tank that caused a molasses spill and foul odor in Victorias City, Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez said Tuesday, June 6.
A technical conference between the Environment Management Bureau, VMC, and the city government was conducted Friday, June 2, he said.
The results of the conference will be announced to the public soon but the mayor assured that the city government will implement the full effect of the law with regards to the situation.
The Victorias City government is very serious about the general welfare of its residents and damage to natural resources, he said.
This must be prevented from happening again, Benitez said.
He also acknowledged that VMC is very concerned about what happened and is doing its best to address the problem.
We are looking forward to the day that all the odor will disappear, Benitez said.
He said that the City Social Welfare and Development Office also assisted the affected families but it is VMC’s main responsibility since they were the ones who caused the air pollution.
In fact, VMC has already assisted 2,183 households in Brgy. 13 and 150 in Brgy. 6-A, he added.
VMC has given food assistance, face masks and alcohol to the affected families, he added.
These are the nearby barangays that have been affected by the spillage and the foul smell emitted by the decomposing molasses that was salvaged from the Malihaw River and transferred to the refinery’s wastewater treatment plant.
The Victorias City Sangguniang Panlungsod conducted a legislative inquiry with the VMC and passed a resolution to create a memorandum of agreement between the city and VMC for their mitigation plan against the spillage and foul smell.
Benitez said the memorandum of agreement between Victorias City and VMC is currently in the works and they have already been considering ways to address the issue.*