The governor and some mayors in Metro Cebu met with DENR Chief Raphael Lotilla to look for a new dumping site.
Found: proposed sites that were rejected by local chief executives or met with disapproval, including Minglanila and Consolacion towns.
Two or three areas willing to accept wastes from other LGUs were too far from the Metro.
They must be so desperate as to pick the Inaywan, Pardo, Cebu City landfill, which the Supreme Court had ordered closed, if they could secure the high court’s approval. Other sites considered were Aloguinsan (61.6 kms from Cebu City) and Toledo City (47.1 kms).
A TAD EMBARRASSING. Almost like publicly looking for a place where to dump all of Cebu City’s poop -- 600 to 1,000 tons a day.
The simile may be exaggerated but wastes -- and all sorts of discarded and unwanted stuff -- are what they dump at the site.
It would seem like Cebu City is looking for a place where to throw away all the tons of trash -- collected from households, government buildings and business establishments -- and no other LGU wants the s**t. Hauling the stuff is hugely expensive because available sites are far away.
Terms
Was it a landslide? Strictly speaking, no, as “what collapsed was the (20 to 25-story-high) pile of garbage, not land”
Was it an “act of God”? It qualifies as a “force majeure” under the law. If contributing negligence of man is proved, those responsible can be held legally liable even if the heavens willed it.
“Garbage, trash, waste, rubbish”: generally used as synonyms by people who produce them, though they have “subtle distinction” among careful writers/speakers.
WHO DECIDES on the alternative dumping site? Top officials presumably, along with the City Council. Mayor Archival rules out WTE. Vice Mayor Osmeña favors incineration.
Premature, with no safety protocols, says the mayor on WTE (waste-to-energy). Archival says some people “just jump” into new technology without being sure about safety concerns.
His vice mayor Tomas Osmeña asks the National Government to review its ban on incinerating waste. The City is “struggling with rising hauling expenses,” Osmeña says, because of the distance of prospective sites. Consolacion is 12.3 kilometers from Cebu City but the traffic pads the cost and, besides, the town may have already junked the deal with the City.
CITY COUNCIL WON’T PROBE BINALIW, SAYS VM TOMAS. Mayor Archival says the City will cooperate with DENR’s investigation and welcomes the Senate probe.
MAYBE not Tomas Osmeña, City Council presiding officer, who “rejects” the inquiry. A waste of time, Osmeña says. Landslide was caused by technical problems, he says, over which DENR has jurisdiction. A Sanggunian hearing won’t solve the problem, Tomas says.