Sunday, December 16, 2007 New landfill 'not enough' By Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter
WHILE Cebu City Hall looks for a site for a new sanitary landfill, city councilors want the administration to be more decisive on how exactly it will address the garbage problem.
The council lamented that the Department of Public Services’ (DPS) lacks direction in dealing with solid waste management.
Councilor Gerardo Carillo said the department should identify what measures it will adopt to reduce waste in the city, how to treat the waste and how to prolong the lifespan of the Inayawan sanitary landfill.
City Hall is dangling P500,000 worth of projects to any barangay council that will host the new landfill in their village. So far, only Binaliw has expressed interest to accommodate a facility that could cost the City at least P500 million.
“It seems that we don’t know what to do. Today we say we’re for the conversion of waste to gas, then tomorrow we’ll go for incinerators, then the next day we go for recycling. I think the department head should have a focus on what they want to do,” Carillo told the council last Friday.
DPS Chief Dionisio Gualiza discussed with the council what they have done to prolong the lifespan of the landfill, which includes regulatory fees for private garbage haulers that dump their waste in the facility.
The sanitary landfill was projected to last only seven years after its operation began in September 1998.
But because of segregation, composting and recycling of wastes in the barangays, the 15-hectare facility can still be used up to 2010.
Vice Mayor Michael Rama pointed out the lack of vision in solid waste management, which prompted the council to call for a gathering of waste management experts to try to find long-term solutions to the garbage problem.
If they had their way, the councilors don’t want to set up another sanitary landfill, which can cost the City millions in investments and pose health risks to residents of the proposed sites.
Councilor Edwin Jagmoc, chairman of the council committee on public services, said the mountain barangay of Binaliw is not an ideal place for a landfill because it is too far from the city proper.
Rama also warned of possible environmental problems if garbage is thrown in a landfill in the mountain barangays “because whatever goes up will always come down.”
To extend the Inayawan facility’s lifespan, the DPS has also imposed regulatory fees on private garbage haulers that collect wastes from malls, restaurants and hotels.
Private haulers are charged P200 per ton and P100 per ton in excess of the first ton.
Councilor Rodrigo Abellanosa criticized the collection of regulatory fees, saying it turns off the private sector from helping the City Government increase garbage collection efficiency.
But Gualiza assured that the fee is collected only from private haulers that operate outside Cebu City. Those collecting garbage from Cebu City alone are exempted from paying the fees but they have to get a clearance from the DPS office.
