|
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Garbage spills over to Tuba town
BAGUIO CITY -- No one has confirmed if the Irisan dumpsite is a potential Payatas tragedy, but Saturday's spillage of garbage to Tuba due to heavy rains might indicate worse things to happen.
The clogging of the drainage canal, which was filled with garbage, caused the spillage said City Administrator Peter Fianza.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
Fianza described the spill over as "minor", saying some of the scattered garbage found in kilometers 5 and 8 at Asin Road did not all come from the Irisan dumpsite but at the Alta Verde subdivision.
With more heavy rains expected in the months to come and still without a sanitary landfill, members of the city Solid Waste Board (SWB) and the Technical Working Group (TWG) were scheduled to meet on Thursday to discuss mitigating measures to be done.
Fianza is proposing for the installation of a wire mesh to contain the garbage and prevent another spill.
Last year, the city began converting the dumpsite into a controlled dump facility. Conversion entails closure of a major portion of the dumpsite.
A contractor -- Asia Envirocon -- was tasked to rehabilitate the area. Drainage canals, installation of leacheate ponds, gas vents and construction of perimeter fences are among the programs of work assigned to the contractor.
But the contractor barely has elbowroom to go full swing with the rehabilitation because garbage continues to be dumped at the containment area, which likewise has been filled to its capacity, Fianza said.
Had the timetable been followed, the Irisan open dumpsite should be closed by now and the city should be using a sanitary landfill, he added.
The city has identified a site for a landfill but social acceptability and the concurrence of officials of the municipality of Itogon has not yet been obtained.
Earlier, the city asked the La Trinidad Municipal Government for the temporary use of their dumpsite. This was turned down for fear that Baguio's 300 tons of daily garbage might fill it to its capacity.
"Our problem is as heavy as the garbage dumped at Irisan," said Fianza, also the action officer of the City Disaster Coordinating Council (CDCC). (Rimaliza Opiña/Sun.Star Baguio/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Dumaguete. (May 8, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
Bank ‘robber’ slain