IT HAS been nearly two years since the Court of Appeals (CA) ordered the permanent closure of the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill.
So what’s the status of its post-closure rehabilitation plan?
Last February, the City Council authorized Mayor Tomas Osmeña to enter into and sign a consultancy agreement with Full Advantage Philippines International Inc. to assess waste depth, volume and the leachate generated and to determine the land area covered by wastes inside the landfill.
In an interview Tuesday, Nov. 20, Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office head Nida Cabrera said Full Advantage has proposed three recommendations.
First is to build a waste-to-energy (WTE) facility in the three-hectare service area, or to convert the 12-hectare dump site into a terminal, a children’s park or a solar-powered recreational center.
“But it’s still a draft recommendation based on the results of the study,” Cabrera said.
Cabrera said her office and Full Advantage will present the proposal to the mayor next week.
After that, it will be submitted to the City Council and then the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).
The 12-hectare dump site has a total volume of 1.1 million tons of garbage.
Of the number, Full Advantage has recommended the removal of some 600,000 tons of garbage. The remaining 500,000 tons will be leveled off and covered with soil to lessen the City Government’s expenses.
The covered trash will have a height of four meters from the ground.
“The WTE can help a lot because the existing trash can still be utilized. It can still produce 12 megawatts. It’s possible, based on the study,” Cabrera said.
Cabrera, though, stressed that the recommendations will still have to go through the scrutiny of the EMB and the appellate court.
“Dili pud ta maka basta-basta makagamit diritso sa (We can’t just start using the) landfill. It needs the approval of EMB and CA,” she said.