Saturday, December 08, 2007 Angeles City council okays use of Clark sanitary landfill By Dante M. Fabian
ANGELES CITY -- The City Council has approved a proposal for the dumping of the city's garbage to the Kalangitan sanitary landfill at the Clark Freeport subzone in Capas, Tarlac.
The city government would spend about P50 milllion annually in the said solid waste program.
In its recent session, the city council passed a resolution granting Mayor Francis "Blueboy" Nepomuceno authority to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the Clark Sanitary Landfill facility operators.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) ordered the closure of the Cuayan Dumpsite, which has been used as the city's onlydumpsite for many years.
Residents in nearby communities and subdivision complain about the presence of an open dumpsite in the area.
The dumpsite which was converted into a controlled dumpsite a few years ago, was also declared illegal in accordance with the provisions of the Clean Air Act under Republic Act 9003.
The law prohibits the operation of open and controlled dumpsites and allows the use only of sanitary landfills.
Councilor Agapito Del Rosario III, proponent of the resolution, said the city government will pay about P50 million a year for dumping the city's solid wastes in the Clark landfill.
Answering the queries of Councilor Willie B. Rivera, majority floor leader and chair of the SP committee on environment, Del Rosario, said the city government will pay a tipping fee of P800 per ton of garbage dumped at the Clark landfill.
Rivera noted that the memorandum of agreement was already signed by the landfill operator but has yet to be signed by Nepomuceno.
Rivera added the city should assign workers to monitor the weighing of garbage being brought to the landfill.
Rivera suggested a clause should be stipulated in the contract that the city government will have the prerogative to cancel the contract for some reasons at a given time.
Del Rosario, however, explained the city government will have no reason to do that since there is no other option for a dumpsite aside from the Clark landfill.
Both Del Rosario and Councilor Ares Yabut, announced the city has been using the Clark landfill since August until October.
