A FEW years back, Cagayan de Oro City's open dumpsite in Zayas was an eyesore and was avoided by passersby because of the foul smell it emits.

But today, the scene is a lot different with the tall trees growing in what used to be just a dumping area for the tons of garbage collected everyday.

It also now has a sari-sari store created through the cooperative formed by the city for the former waste pickers. The site has an operational material recovery facility where recyclable materials are stored.

This development is part of the city government's efforts to transform the 17-hectare old dumpsite into an eco-park.

Years from now, Engineer Armen Cuenca, chief of the City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (Clenro) said the old dump site will have a botanical and butterfly gardens, lagoon, basketball court, bike lane, jogging area, and an amphitheater.

According to Cuenca, the plan will be made possible after the city received a grant from the Department of Budget Management (DBM) worth P35 million for the old dump site's initial phase of its rehabilitation.

He said the fund will be used for land development.

The Zayas dumpsite was closed last year for violations. The city opened an engineered landfill in Barangay Pagalungan, 16 kilometers away from the city proper.

This P100-million, 45-hectare landfill was up to standards, according to the Environmental Management Bureau and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.

To date, the new landfill has almost filled up the first of 4 cells.

“That's why we are intensifying our campaign in barangays for proper waste segregation, and to build their own material recovery facility so that we can lessen the collected garbage everyday,” Cuenca said.