THE Cebu City Department of Public Services (DPS) will coordinate with the private hauler who owns the transfer station in Barangay Inayawan to address the stench reportedly coming from the facility.
Some residents in the area have complained that the smell has become unbearable.
Joel Biton, DPS head, said he will ask Jomara Konstruckt Inc. to use a deodorizer to control the smell.
“I will call them immediately. I will tell them that the smell is affecting the residents,” Biton said in a phone interview.
Biton also clarified that they’d intensified garbage collection around the city, which caused garbage trucks to line up outside the transfer station at certain hours of the day.
What added to the stench was the late collection of garbage, some of which were already in a state of decomposition, from some establishments.
Biton said the DPS has prioritized the collection of garbage along major thoroughfares after his office received the mayor’s mandate.
In a separate interview, Mayor Edgardo Labella, during his visit to fire survivors in Mountain View Village in Barangay Quiot on Friday afternoon, July 5, 2019, denied that the sanitary landfill in Inayawan had reopened.
He said he immediately sent his staff to check when he heard rumors that the facility was operating.
“I confirmed it. That’s not true. That’s (a) clear violation of the Writ of Kalikasan,” said Labella.
The Writ of Kalikasan was issued by the Supreme Court, ordering the closure of the Inayawan landfill.
Jomara Konstruckt was forced to establish a transfer station to accommodate the collected garbage, but sometimes the volume of trash was too much.
The contract between the City and Jomara Konstruckt expired last June 30.
However, Labella said he would ask the private hauler to continue collecting the city’s garbage.
The contract between the City and Jomara Konstruckt is based on the tons of garbage collected. The latter still needs to collect garbage worth P6 million.
Once it complies with the agreement, Labella said the City will forge a new contract.
On Monday, July 8, the mayor will meet with officials of ARN Central Waste Management Inc., owner of the private landfill in Barangay Binaliw, to discuss garbage management.
He said there is already a recommendation to enter into an agreement with ARN in the amount of P65 million.
“Let’s see how will we augment it,” Labella said. (JJL)