DAVAO City Councilor Tek Ocampo, chairperson of the committee on environment and natural resources (CENR), said the committee is planning to find alternative ways to resolve the garbage issues in Davao City.
This, he said, as the landfill is nearing its full capacity and is forecasted to be completely full by 2023.
“Ang problema man gud nato karun ang atoang basura gakadaghan, and we need to solve the problem. Daghan ga-migrate sa Davao, naa pa gyud matukod na tulay so you will expect the volume of garbage of Davao will also increase (The biggest concern of our city now is the increasing volume of garbage and we need to solve this problem. There are a lot of migrants in the city so we can also expect that the volume of our garbage will increase),” Ocampo said.
Earlier this year, Ocampo pushed the waste-to-energy (WTE) project as he said it will resolve the issue and even requested the national government to fund the ongoing project which is worth P3.486 billion.
He said that they are still waiting for the recommendation and approval of the DENR.
“Nagapaabot mi sa desisyon, the local government unit of Davao (LGU-Davao) kung unsa ba gyud ilahang recommendation (We are waiting for their decision, the LGU-Davao, is waiting for their recommendation),” Ocampo said.
However, several environmental groups have opposed the continuation of the project as they claimed that it is not safe despite the assurance that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has an Administrative Order that assures the safety of the project.
“They [DENR] came up with Administrative Order No. 21 Series of 2019. Gisiguro nila ang pagatukuron nga waste-to-energy project is in compliant sa atoang Clean Air Act ug sa tanang environmental laws (They ensure that the WTE project is compliant with our Clean Air Act and other environmental law), because they want to make sure nga protektado ang atong health and wellness sa atoang mga kaigsoonan when this project will be implemented (that the health and wellness of the people is safe during the implementation of the project),” Ocampo said in his previous interview.
Environmental groups stand firm about the safety concerns of the WTE project.
“Incinerators are being fed by plastic or non-biodegradable waste as fuel, it will burn these wastes and turn the water into steam in a boiler and create high-pressure steam to produce electricity. However, this process results in the emission of highly toxic substances like dioxins and furans, which are known carcinogenic and can also cause reproductive and developmental problems, among others,” Interfacing Development Interventions (Idis) said.
Also, Idis said it is just a “waste of money” as most of the waste is biodegradable. They said the establishment of the WTE facility addresses the wrong issue “which is the lack or absence of the strict implementation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 (RA 9003), especially on proper waste segregation.”
However, Ocampo said whatever will be the decision of DENR they will follow it.
“Because maminaw ta, for the sake of argument nga dili ni pwede, unsa ba gyud ang angay natong buhaton? Kay aron we can move forward (We will listen to whatever will be their decision if they will say it's not allowed then what should we need to do so that we can move forward),” Ocampo said.
While waiting for the DENR’s recommendation and decision, Ocampo said as the chairperson of the committee they are already exploring alternative ways for the garbage concern.
“Mangandam pud ta in case nga ma-delay, or dili aprobahan ang budget, mangita pud tag laing paagi kung unsa ta makasolbad sa atoang basura (We are preparing just in case there’s a delay or if the budget will not be approved. We need to find alternative ways),” Ocampo said.
He said the committee is considering composting on a big scale.
“Naa may mga Japanese technology available karun that can solve the problem sa atoang mga basura. Kasagaran man gud sa mga basura nga atoang gina-generate kay biodegradable,some are food waste, so pwede na siya i-compost, if we have the facility and technology pwede pud na (There are a lot of Japanese technologies that are available now that can help solve our problem. Since most of our generated garbage is biodegradable, some are food waste, so we can compost it),” Ocampo said.
He added that although the city already has composting machines, it is not enough to cover the tons of garbage in the city.
He said the product of the composted garbage can be used as fertilizer and can be sold so that the city can generate income.
Aside from that, Ocampo said the Ancillary Services Unit (ASU) received a grant from the United Nations Habitat (UN-Habitat) worth P5 million intended for a recycling facility.
“Dili lang plastic bottles ang pwede nila i-recycle kay apil na ang mga glass. Dili naman gud mahalin ron ang kaning mga botelya, unya daghan kaayo tag mga basurero mangasamad tungod ana (This recycling facility can also recycle glasses aside from the plastic bottles),” Ocampo said.
He said the product of the recycled materials will be used for eco-bricks.
“It will be used for construction, pathways, and anything for commercial use. It can also be an income-generating enterprise for the city,” Ocampo said.
The recycling facility is expected to be established if allowed in the New Carmen dumpsite.
Meanwhile, Ocampo said they are doing their best to solve the garbage issues in the city.
“Ang syudad nangita gyud og pamaagi, dili man gud nato ni mahimo og overnight man gud so hinay-hinay ta, because we need to make sure also nga kani atong ibutang nga kwarta magamit og tarong (We are doing our best to solve our problem, but we cannot do this overnight but one step at a time. We need to make sure that the budget allocated is worth it and used properly),” Ocampo said. KSD