AS CAGAYAN de Oro gears towards becoming a metropolis, City Mayor Oscar Moreno bared his plan to share the sanitary landfill in Barangay Pagalungan to nearby municipalities.
This was disclosed by the city mayor during the visit of Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu here on Thursday, January 30.
An impressed Cimatu was shown around the old dumpsite in Barangay Carmen which is now an empty land to be transformed into an eco-park. Cimatu also visited the new 45-hectare sanitary landfill which he referred to as “a very good practice” of the City Government, one that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) plans to benchmark for other local government units to copy.
Moreno, in an interview, said they have long considered to take in trash from other towns for a fee.
“Kasabot man ta sa problema sa mga lungsod, mahal ang landfill, (ug) dili gyud sayon ang operation. Kung matag lungsod each has landfill, ang problema sad ang ilang limited resources,” he said.
(We understand the problem of other towns. The landfill is expensive and operation could be difficult. If each town has a landfill, the problem would be limited resources.)
“Pwede man magamit ang atong landfill kay dako man (Our landfill can be used since it is big). We can accommodate other municipalities, dili lang pud siguro tanan (maybe not all),” he added.
Cimatu, meanwhile, praised local officials for religiously implementing the Solid Waste Management Act.
He said the absence of landfill is a major problem across the country, noting that only 10 to 15 percent of local government units are compliant to the law.
Cimatu said Cagayan de Oro’s waste management practice, closing down the dumpsite and transition into the landfill operation, is worthy of emulation.
“When I was still the commander of the 4th Infantry Division here, I used to pass by the dumpsite and I get mad looking at it. Now, I am the DENR Secretary, I am glad that it was shut down and we get a sprawling modern landfill here, so congratulations to your city,” Cimatu said.