Tom O. visits landfill area, says it’s okay

The 15-hectare landfill in Barangay Inayawan, Cebu City, is now being subjected to several remedial measures by the city to help minimize the stench that has been the basis of complaints from various sectors that are calling for its immediate closure.
(CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Amid several complaints against the city’s 15-hectare landfill in Barangay Inayawan and calls for its closure, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña visited the site yesterday morning to check on the stench himself.

He then issued this assessment after the site inspection.

“It’s okay. There are some people that are very anxious to make a lot of money by benefiting a private hauler and other situations. The landfill is underutilized. It looks full, but it’s not. I didn’t wear any mask. I didn’t smell much,” he told reporters yesterday after his visit to the landfill with city hall consultant on environment, Nida Cabrera.

According to the officials, the stench coming from the landfill has slightly improved after interventions were made by the city including the spraying of enzymes.

The mayor said that he didn’t even have to wear a mask since the odor from the landfill was not as bad as before.

He also reiterated his earlier stand to continue using the 17-year-old landfill and not to go back to dumping garbage in a private landfill in Consolacion town, northern Cebu for P700 per ton.

The mayor then presented data from the City Health Department (CHD) showing that there has been no dramatic increase in respiratory-related illnesses in Barangay Inayawan as the cases have even decreased, according to the CHD.

Based on CHD records, there were 59 cases of pneumonia in the barangay from January to August this year, compared to 70 cases reported in the same period last year.

Cases of upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) from January to August this year were also lesser at 145 compared to the 397 recorded cases for the same period last year.

As for asthma cases, only three were reported this year while there were 35 cases from January to August last year, according to the CHD report.

Cabrera said the spraying of enzymes in the landfill really helped mitigate the stench coming from the dumpsite. Filling materials from several contractors with ongoing projects in the city have also been used to cover the new garbage brought into the landfill to minimize its odor.

According to Cabrera, to reduce the foul smell, the city will also focus on reducing biodegradable wastes brought into the landfill by tapping the help of the city’s barangays.

“We will initially open sites for our composting centers in the barangays,” Cabrera said adding that the first composting centers will be in Barangays T. Padilla, Tejero and Kamagayan.

The city hopes to have composting centers in at least 50 of Cebu City’s 80 barangays.

“Because of the city’s problem now on garbage, we are requesting the barangays to help us. They can look for a small area to establish a composting center in our barangays,”

Cabrera said after she was tasked by Osmeña to address concerns raised by the Department of Health (DOH) 7 in an inspection report this week which recommended for the landfill’s closure.

Cabrera has also been spearheading efforts to remedy the city’s 13 violations of the landfill’s Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) which were earlier pointed out by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Environmental Management Bureau.