THE reputed sanitary landfill in Barangay Binaliw, Cebu City, was considered by a councilor an open dump site.
This was after the City Council summoned the private firm and residents for an executive session on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, to address ongoing concerns about the landfill in Barangay Binaliw.
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Binaliw residents complain about landfill’s ‘foul’ smell
Councilor Pastor Alcover Jr., during the executive session, said that when they hiked the mountains around the landfill last Aug. 29, he saw that the landfill was turned into an open dumpsite.
He pointed out the possible violations Prime Integrated Waste Solutions Inc. (PWS) committed, which were creating an open dumpsite, which is considered to be illegal, heightening landfills, imposing danger similar to a landslide, and contaminating the water in nearby areas.
Alcover also said that the concept of a landfill would be having a base of plastic lining underneath the garbage, which serves as a catcher of wastewater. However, they did not see any plastic lining during their inspection, he added.
Acting Vice Mayor Donaldo Hontiveros and Councilors Alcover and Joel Garganera were also not satisfied with PWS’ answers to the pressing concerns of the residents in Barangay Binaliw and neighboring Panoypoy village in Consolacion town.
Hontiveros proposed to the council to form a body during the amendment section for Wednesday’s regular session on Sept. 4 that would partner with the working groups of the executive and legislative branches.
Cebu City Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia has already tasked Reymarr Hijara, City Environment and Natural Resources Office department head (Cenro), to dig deep into the issue and gave the latter three days to submit a report.
Hontiveros said in a separate phone interview on Tuesday that the purpose of the proposed body would be to give updates to the council regarding the progress of the report.
When asked if the problems were addressed during the session, Alcover said that PWS was on the defensive.
“Wala gyud na ma-address, depensa ra na iya tanan (it wasn’t addressed, they’re all in defensive),” he said.
Alcover ended with a note that the councilors would find a way to address the issue.
For his part, Garganera said in a text message that he would only be satisfied once the problem was solved.
“For now, it’s all talk; no action,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hontiveros said that he was not satisfied with the PWS’ answers considering the time constraint of the session.
Kevin Matthew Shao, the representative sent by PWS, said that there is no way the issue can be addressed overnight, as he promised to take action on the residents’ concerns.
“I understand that there are a few complaints from the residents of our neighboring barangays and to the barangay the site is operating in; rest assured, we’re going to be working together with the affected parties, affected residents, Cebu City and DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources), to make sure that these complaints do not occur,” Shao said.
Shao said that when talking about waste management business, smell must be associated with it.
When asked what the PWS intervention can be on the odor that emanates from the site, Shao explained that it is because of the rainwater mixing with the waste.
“Although we do spray these, we also have to take into consideration that once iukay ang basura (the garbage will be unloaded) and we have to file accordingly, diha mugawas ang baho (odor will come out),” said Shao.
Shao said that another thing to note is that when it rains, they have to let the trucks stay in a holding area and load them into the material recovery facility.
He stressed that the process alone produces odor.
On the water contamination at Barangay Panoypoy, Shao denied that it came from PWS.
He said that it does not belong to PWS, and it’s not within the firm’s property.
Garganera told Shao that he is hoping PWS is being transparent and true to every word he says.
SunStar Cebu tried to reach out to Shao for further details, but the latter has yet to respond as of this writing. /JPS