THE Provincial Government will no longer pursue the implementation of a proposed sanitary landfill in the northern town of Carmen.
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia revealed plans to let the greenery continue to thrive on the site where the project was supposed to stand.
“Naa man gud na sa bukid (It’s located in the mountains). Ato lang usa nang pasagdan nga (We will just leave it as a) green area because we need to preserve that also,” Garcia said Friday, Aug. 2, 2019.
The governor stressed the need to preserve Carmen’s mountain vegetation to protect the water supply from the Luyang River.
During Garcia’s earlier stint as governor in 2012, the Capitol entered into a joint venture agreement with the Manila Water consortium to manage the bulk water supply in Luyang River in Carmen.
In 2014, the P1.1-billion water supply project started producing 35 million liters of water daily to homes in Metro Cebu.
The cancellation of the proposed sanitary landfill was also among the campaign promises Garcia made to the people of Carmen before she won the election last May 13.
The residents’ concerns stemmed from negotiations between a private firm and the previous administration, Garcia said.
“I stated that during the campaign and I will fulfill it karon nga na gobernador na ko og balik (now that I’m governor again). Dili gyud na nato ipadayon (We will not continue with it). Di gyud na mahinayon ang landfill (We will not implement the proposed landfill in Carmen),” she said.
The lot where the landfill was supposed to be built was purchased by the Capitol during Garcia’s earlier stint as governor.
Although its original intent was for a landfill, Garcia said the establishment of such facilities had become a “socially-sensitive” topic.
The property in Barangay Dawis Sur has a total land area of 18 hectares. The administration of former governor and now Vice Gov. Hilario Davide III planned to use around 10 hectares of the lot as a landfill for the next 10 years.
Basic Environmental Systems Technology, a Manila-based firm and the largest sanitary landfill operator in the country, was the interested proponent of the project.
The proposed landfill in Carmen had aimed to cater to other northern towns at a tipping fee of P700 per ton.
Based on the proposed agreement, 25 percent of the revenues would go to the Capitol, while the remaining 75 percent would go to the developer. (RTF)