200 scavengers to get jobs

THERE will be no scavengers to be displaced if the proposed integrated solid waste management system for the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill will be adopted by the Cebu City Government.

Atty. Ruth Briones, Greenergy Solutions Inc. chief executive officer, said the company would need 400 employees for various sections of operations once the project is approved.

Among the employees that would be hired are the affected scavengers at the landfill.

Briones was one of the presenters of the solid waste management and waste to energy project proposed by a consortium of private, local and international companies to the Cebu City Solid Waste Management Board yesterday.

The issue on scavengers was raised by Engr. Dionisio Gualiza, Department of Public Services chief, during the presentation.

In an interview, Engr. Randy Navarro, Inayawan Sanitary Landfill manager, said there were about 300 scavengers or garbage pickers before the landfill was closed in April 2011, but the number went down to 200 recently.

He said the garbage pickers still perform their chores, but with the new project, garbage segregation can be controlled with the implementation of standards in terms of regular pay, and safety equipment will be provided.

The Cebu City Landfill Gas and Waste to Energy Project is a 25-year integrated waste management project offered by a private consortium led by Greenergy Solutions Inc., with financing from Synova Corp. and Boustead Singapore Limited.

Briones said the partnership with the Cebu City Government will follow the public-private partnership agreement at no cost to the government, except for the usufruct of four hectares of land within the landfill area.

The revenue that will be generated from the agreement will still have to be discussed in detail. Briones, however, said that the City Government initially agreed that the company will be able to get back the cost that will be spent for the project.

Dr. Bernardo Tadeo, Greenergy Solutions president, said the project cost is pegged at $102 million and it aims to generate 24 megawatts of electricity 18 months after its construction.

The initial work will entail clearing four hectares of garbage within the landfill and using this same garbage to start the anaerobic digestion system that will enable the company to produce three megawatts of electricity between six and nine months after construction.

He also said that the government will also be able to save on tipping fees for the disposal of garbage in Consolacion town, which currently costs about P100 million per year.

With the current arrangement, said Navarro, only 40 percent of the total amount of garbage is being disposed while the rest are left at the Inayawan landfill.

Navarro added that with the integrated solid waste management project, all the garbage at the landfill will be processed and used.

The sources of revenue of the project are the sale of electricity from converting waste to energy, sale of recycled products, tipping fees for other local government units that would use the site and sale of carbon credits through the clean management mechanism of the United Nations’ framework convention for climate change.