BACOLOD City Mayor Evelio Leonardia wanted the IPM-Construction and Development Corp. (IPM-CDC) to construct the cell no. 2 at the sanitary landfill in Barangay Felisa “the soonest possible time.”

Leonardia has yet to sign the notice to proceed with the construction of cell no.2.

The contract of agreement between the city government and IPM-CDC was ratified by the City Council last week.

The IPM-CDC was the winning bidder in the P49 million contract for the construction of cell no. 2.

“Let us do it at the soonest possible time because the urgency of the matter is in its own nature,” Leonardia said.

He said he already talked with Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, chairman of Solid Waste Action Team (Swat), that they might be able to use this development as another launching pad to revisit or to relaunch the “no segregation, no collection” policy.

“We had admitted that even in the past, this is really a gigantic, colossal job because we are talking of 592,000 people whom we have to deal with. It’s admittedly a very challenging job, but we will keep on trying,” he added.

The mayor noted that the cell no.2, with a short life span of two to three years, is smaller than cell no.1 which it will last for five to seven years.

After the completion of cell no. 2, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will also inspect the cell no. 1 for its closure.

Familiaran had earlier said the IPM-CDC can start the construction of cell no. 2 anytime following the ratification of the contract.

Familiaran said the cell no. 1, which now looks like an open dumpsite, is already full of garbage so the city needs the construction of cell no.2 to strictly enforce the waste segregation policy.