Pro Tech machines still to be used

WHAT will happen to the two multimillion peso worth Environmental Recycling System (ERS) machines of Baguio City?

General Services Office (GSO) head Romeo Concio said the two ERS machines bought from Pro Tech Machineries Corporation will still be used despite the current move of the City Government to avail of another technology to solve the mounting expenses in garbage hauling.

Concio said that when the city avails of the wastes-to-energy technology from Dominion Clean Energy, the ERS machines will still be used to process other city wastes in the city sewerage treatment plant and the vegetable wastes at the city market.

The GSO head said Councilor Erdolfo Balajadia, in the recent City Solid Waste Management Board meeting, suggested the use of one ERS machine in the Sewerage Treatment Plant at North Sanitary Camp.

Concio said there will be no problem with the transfer of one of the machines at the North Sanitary Camp while the ERS machines will still be able to process sewerage waste into fertilizer.

He said they are awaiting the arrival of Pro Tech executives and technicians to discuss the city’s plans for the machines.

Meanwhile, as for the other ERS machine, the city is eyeing its use at the public market where several tons of biodegradable wastes are dumped every day. However, they are still finding a space in the area to transfer the machine.

The ERS machines brought from Pro Tech Machineries Corporation at P64 million each was purchased by the city in 2011 to solve its garbage woes but problems in the failed sale of the machine’s fertilizer output, residual wastes definition, hauling expenses, and lack of transfer and sorting station resulted in an impasse on the operations of the city’s solid waste management.

Mayor Mauricio Domogan recently sent a demand letter to Pro Tech to buy back the fertilizers produced by its ERS machines as stipulated in its contract with the City Government.

The Local Finance Committee and the GSO head also held a meeting to discuss ways to recoup earnings from Pro Tech especially on the sale of compost fertilizers and the buy-back agreement.

Councilors, meanwhile, criticized the firm for failing to live up to its promises and for allegedly reneging on its obligations as stated in the Memorandum of Agreement it entered with the city such as hauling of residual wastes and selling the compost fertilizer produced by the ERS.

The council also ordered the City Legal Office to come up with demands and legal actions against the waste solution firm as the city braces for millions in pesos in debts from several private haulers who were left unpaid after hauling wastes that spilled over the Irisan dumpsite during the onslaught of Typhoon Mina.