Oct. 1 deadline to close landfill may be moved

With the city having no alternative dump site yet, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama may have to set aside plans to totally close the Inayawan Sanitary landfill on Oct. 1.

Rama said while the city had yet to identify an alternative site to dispose its garbage, the city was also still preparing its closure plan for the landfill.

“We are still going toward that direction (total closure of the landfill) but there are some circumstances that (cannot be avoided and) we have to be realistic (about it),” he said.

Rama said he planned to convert the landfill into a park and a housing site for City Hall employees.

Councilor Nida Cabrera, head of the council’s environment committee, said that the city had to apply for closure of the landfill with the Environment Management Bureau (EMB) before they could implement programs identified in their closure plan.

Cabrera also cited the need for the city to allocate funds to support the diversion of garbage into privately-operated garbage facilities.

Private facilities charge the city government P700 for a ton of garbage.

Rama said he was considering a privately-owned landfill facility in the mountain barangay of Agsungot for the city’s garbage concerns.

“They have been issued an ECC (environmental compliance certificate).  But we wanted to know first how they can come in (to help the city address its garbage concerns) and how much will it (cost),” he said.

Rama said the Agsungot garbage facility is closer to the city  compared to the two other privately-owned facilities in Naga City in the south and Consolacion town in the north.

Rama ordered unsegregated garbage banned from the landfill starting April 1.

Meanwhile, Rep. Tomas Osmena (Cebu City South district) gave sacks of rice to 341 families of scavengers, whose earnings were affected by the city’s garbage segregation program.

“Nang reklamo gyud ang mga scavengers kay with the recycling (at the landfill) na menos gyud ilang kita unya nakalitan sad sila.  There is no adjustment period,” he said. /With a report from Correspondent Edison A. Delos Angeles