Inayawan landfill ‘reopened’ as garbage transfer station

THE Cebu city government has once again opened a portion of the Inayawan sanitary landfill. The opened area will be used as a transfer station for garbage coming from the barangays.

Jade Ponce, chaiperson of the Solid Waste Management Board (SWMB), said yesterday that the landfill’s service area would be used until after the improvement would be completed of the designated transfer station on a leased lot outside the landfill.

Ponce said he was expecting the rehabilitation work of the transfer station to be done in two weeks.

A transfer station is used for the unloading, sorting and transfer of sorted trash into a bigger truck for disposal at the private landfill facility in the municipality of Consolacion.

“But we are not reopening the landfill to dump garbage,” said Ponce.

Mayor Michael Rama said some barangay captians requested for the reopening of the Inayawan landfill because it was difficult to bring their garbage directly to Pulog, Consolacion.

“I told them that whatever is best then you pursue it. But the intervention will only be temporary, otherwise, we cannot pursue solid waste management,” he said.

Rama ordered the landfill closed last October. The city also leased an almost-a-hectare property outside the landfill compound as transfer station.

However, the transfer station hasn’t been used since Dec. 30 because the rains made the area muddy making it difficult for garbage trucks to maneuver.

Ponce clarified that the city wasn’t reopening the already closed landfill. He said it couldn’t be reopened.

Instead, the waste management board passed a resolution during Wednesday’s meeting recommending the use of the old landfill’s service area as temporary transfer station.

The service area is located near the landfill’s gate. The dumpsite is at its far end.

Ponce said they had to improve the transfer station at the leased lot.

Its flooring had to be hardened to prevent from becoming muddy when it rains while a roof was needed for its covering.

Ponce also cited plans to put up a ramp in the area to make unloading and loading of garbage easier.

He also assured that work on the transfer station wouldn’t hamper the city’s garbage disposal operations

Rama said he wanted the problems on the transfer station addressed when he returns from his weeklong leave.

Rama is going abroad for about a week or two to rest. He plans to visit India to observe its Bus Rapid Transit operations there. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac