COVERED. Heavy equipment level the mountain of garbage at the Inayawan landfill while covering it with soil to minimize the stench. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
First, there was the stench. Then, there were the flies. This was the scene that greeted Environment Secretary Regina “Gina” Lopez when she visited the Inayawan Landfill located in Barangay Inayawan, Cebu City to see for herself what the controversy over the city’s garbage dump site was all about.
In the company of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, Lopez decided to do an ocular survey of the landfill around 3:30 p.m. yesterday, just hours before she was set to fly back to Manila after attending a forum in the city yesterday.
Upon personally witnessing the landfill’s state, she immediately commented that the area should be immediately fixed — the stench and presence of swarms of flies, in particular — by making use of “biochar,” a kind of charcoal that can be used for odor control.
She also presented two options that the city could consider: continue its operation while simultaneously having it rehabilitated, with the goal of having “zero waste”; or the city can close the site, have it rehabilitated, and transfer its sanitary landfill facility to another location.
However, just a short while after she concluded her ocular inspection and parted with Osmeña, Lopez changed her mind: There are no more options for the city to choose from as she cannot condone the continued operation of the landfill.
It has to be closed and the city has to find another place to dump its garbage, Lopez told Cebu Daily News in a phone call she made to this paper to clarify the earlier statement she made.
Reclaimed area is a no-no
Lopez, who was by then on her way to the Mactan Cebu International Airport, told CDN that she wanted to clarify her previous stand regarding the landfill issue as she had just found out that it is located near the sea and on a reclaimed area.
“I just found out that the dump site was actually near the sea and so I am not in favor of any dumping of toxic waste near the sea or any body of water for that matter because it’s an environmental hazard,” she said. “I feel that (the) dump site should be closed, find another place to dump the garbage far away from the body of water.”
According to Lopez, it is not enough to just close the site but the city should also provide the funds to have it fixed in such a way that it could be turned into an eco-tourism site and the garbage could be used to get the community out of poverty.
What is imperative, however, is the immediate closure and rehabilitation of the area, she stressed.
Environment Secretary Regina Paz Lopez (left in white long sleeves) puts on a medical mask as she arrives at the Inayawan landfill for an ocular inspection in the company of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña (left, behind Lopez) and former councilor Nida Cabrera (right). (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
“It cannot just be closed. It has to be fixed because it is a health hazard,” she said. “It should be rehabilitated now. They should rehabilitate it. They have to find a place to dump the waste, which is not near any body of water.”
Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera, who has gone to the Court of Appeals to seek for a Writ of Kalikasan that can compel the city government to shut down the dump site, said he was glad that Lopez was finally able to see the hazards of the continued operation of the place.
Garganera said he was initially under the impression that Lopez was in favor of the continued operation of the landfill, particularly since he got a phone call from her yesterday — in the presence of Mayor Osmeña — asking him why he and the other city councilors refused to give the fund to buy the anapog (limestone) that Osmeña wanted the garbage to be covered with.
But after further talks with Lopez, Garganera said he was able to convince her that its operations should be stopped as it is located on a reclaimed area.
Shocked
According to Garganera, Lopez was shocked upon hearing the information, as it was never divulged to her by Osmeña or by William Cuñado, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environment Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) officer in charge in Central Visayas, who were both with her shortly before and during the visit to the landfill.
“I had the impression that she was for the continued operation of the landfill,” Garganera said.
“She said she loves Cebu and I said, I love Cebu sad, ma’am. I’ve been a barangay captain of a coastal barangay for 27 years. Ana ko nga (I told her that), yes, ma’am, the dump site is a reclaimed lot. What? It’s a reclaimed lot? I said yes, ma’am, it’s a reclaimed lot. Because you have been listening to Tommy (Osmeña) and Cuñado, who are all along beside you, never divulged to you that information, which is very vital information.”
Garganera said he told Lopez that he filed the petition for a Writ of Kalikasan to seek the closure of the landfill primarily because “your department (DENR) recommends it” as well as the EMB and the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7).
Last September 2, the DENR-EMB in the region issued a notice of violation against the Cebu City for its failure to comply with several environmental standards set by the bureau in the operation of its 15-hectare landfill and recommended its closure.
On September 5, in a report released following a site inspection on the facility, DOH-7 also “highly recommended” the immediate closure of the landfill due to lack of sanitary requirements and several environmental, health and community safety issues.
Garganera explained that his primary concern was to find a solution to the issues posed by the operation of the landfill and that no price tag should be set when it comes to the health of the people, a recurring point of Osmeña when it comes to considering the use of an alternative private landfill site in Consolacion town in northern Cebu, as it would entail an expense of P600,000 daily for the city.
With her firm stance against the dumping of garbage in any site located near the sea, Lopez said it is the responsibility of the city officials to set aside their differences and to fix the problem.
“I feel that the city government and all members of the city government should work together to fix all the problems of Cebu and the DENR is ready to help them (to fix the problem), for the (sake of the) community,” she said.
Earlier yesterday, prior to the ocular inspection, Lopez called on all the officials and the agencies involved to decide on how to address the city’s garbage landfill problem with the “common good” in mind.
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